by Anya Haber
“Stick to what you really believe and what you think is important” – Libby Edelman
On January 14th, SCADshow hosted the much anticipated Sam Edelman event, where Sam and Libby Edelman sat down with Kevin Knaus, a beloved fashion marketing and management professor at SCAD Atlanta. As the talk started, I was immediately drawn to the Edelmans’ feet. After all, they are successful shoe designers. I found it endearing that Sam wore hot pink socks to match the shade of his wife’s stiletto boots. This, as well as the rest of the talk, created the impression that Sam and Libby are very much a team in every aspect of their lives.
They began by discussing their backgrounds. Libby majored in journalism and had a successful career in magazines like “Harper’s Bazaar” and “Seventeen.” Sam’s family was in the shoe business. They met in a showroom, where Libby has been searching for shoes that would work well at her magazine shoots.
After, they discussed what led them to start up their first shoe business, Sam & Libby. They were so confident in their vision that they sold everything, including their own cars, in order to start the company. Sam Edelman spoke of their money fears and how they were always on edge about finding the funds to pay for the manufacturing of the shoes. However, Sam & Libby was an incredible success, in part due to the fact that Sam and Libby both really believed in personally connecting with the consumer. Their core consumers were couples like themselves, so they featured their family in the first campaigns for Sam & Libby. They also toured the country promoting their brand and meeting their consumers.
Eventually Sam and Libby decided to retire from their brand to take care of their three children. However, a horrible accident left Sam severely injured for two years. During that time, he took to reading women’s magazines. What he noticed was that, although there were plenty of affordable yet fashionable clothing brands out there, there were very few shoe brands that produced the same quality at a cheaper price point. This is how the idea of Sam Edelman, the shoe brand, came to form.
What really struck me about this couple was how honest they both were, especially when it came to their fears and their failures. They were so humble and a breath of fresh air in a business known for its aloof, unkind bosses. Their personal anecdotes were heartwarming, from Libby’s famous lemon chicken to their honesty about having to miss a soccer game or two in order to run their company. Even as Knauss announced the student question portion needed to come to a close, Sam insisted on answering more questions from the audience, telling his wife that he just couldn’t say no.
Some pearls of wisdom Sam and Libby gave to the audience were to have the strength to say no, maintain your integrity at all times, and, when someone else tells you no, you can usually convince them otherwise if you have a strong vision and self-confidence.
Ekta Pawar, a third year fashion student, felt truly moved by the Edelmans. “They were the first speakers I felt who were so honest about their successes and failures. I loved how they talked about their family and how they are able to make both work. As a wife and a mother, they are truly an inspiration,” she said.
Although Sam and Libby Edelman were recently inducted into the Footwear News Hall of Fame, Sam’s ambitions soar even higher. He one day hopes to be recognized with an award from the prestigious Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA). Although Sam jokingly asked the audience to write letters to the CFDA on his behalf, he appears to have the talent and business acumen to make it there on his own. By the close of the Edelmans’ prolific career, they are sure to have at least one CFDA award among the multitude of other accolades they are bound to receive.
