Wolverine World Wide, Inc. announced the acquisition of the Cushe (pronounced “cushy”) footwear brand, a move the company says will drive new global opportunities and leverage the strength of Wolverine's proven business model and operating infrastructure. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
Cushe is an exciting brand that is early in its lifecycle, having launched its initial collection in 2005 in the United Kingdom. The Cushe brand is founded in relaxed, design-led footwear for active men and women. Cushe combines the energy and optimism of action sports with the global need for unique, comfortable footwear. The result is a fresh footwear brand focused on young consumers – with products ranging from sport casuals to sandals – that has successfully established distribution in premiere accounts in the United Kingdom and 20 other countries.
Cushe was founded by Martin Dean, a talented entrepreneur and designer. Martin has served as a key design resource to Wolverine World Wide as both an employee and an outside designer for many years, and has made significant contributions to collections for Merrell, CAT footwear and Patagonia footwear. As part of the acquisition, Martin will be joining Wolverine World Wide as Creative Director for Cushe and also will be leading the Company's newly formed “London Design Nest.” Cushe will become part of the Hush Puppies Group and will report to Mark Neal, President of our global Hush Puppies business.
“We are extremely pleased to add the Cushe brand to our already-strong portfolio of lifestyle brands,” commented Blake Krueger, Wolverine's Chief Executive Officer and President. “Cushe's fresh product, outstanding design and connection to younger consumers seeking comfortable footwear are compelling and create a unique brand opportunity. While current sales are modest at less than 100,000 pairs annually, we believe the Cushe brand has tremendous untapped potential. We are also excited that Martin Dean will be joining the Company to drive the product and marketing for Cushe and to provide design excellence to all of our brands as head of our London Design Nest. Cushe is precisely the kind of brand that will benefit from Wolverine's established global infrastructure and brand building expertise, and we expect it to become a significant contributor in our global portfolio in the coming years.”
