Andrew Estey, former END Footwear co-founder and award-winning footwear designer, announced the launch of LUME, a premier active-lifestyle brand focused in the fusion of health and wellness. Influenced by the active baby boomer and grounded in a design philosophy of “inside out,” LUME's main focus is to drive innovation through fit with a focus on how the foot connects to its environment.
Andrew Estey explained, “Spending the past 15 years working with and solving problems for athletes has set me up for this new venture, it is an exciting opportunity to look at the market in a whole different light and to embrace the issues of the maturing consumer.”
As footwear will be the catalyst, LUME's plan is to move quickly over the next few seasons to complete a unique wellness system comprised of Footwear, Inserts and Socks, all designed to benefit and enhance the foot's comfort. With its core group in place, the brand is moving full steam ahead with a planned launch into footwear as their first introduction in Fall 2010.
END – which stands for Environmentally Neutral Design – was launched in 2007 by Ben Finklea and Estey, the former global design director for sport culture at Nike Inc. The lightweight and environmentally friendlybrand was sold to LaCrosse Footwear in May 2009 but was discontinued by August amid the global downturn. At the time, LaCrosse said it would incorporate END's lightweight designs into its more established LaCrosse and Danner branded production lines and distribution channels starting in fall 2010.
