Star Wars to Brand Kids' Footwear, Accessories

Lucasfilm has tapped Collective Brands to develop Star Wars’ and Star Wars: The Clone Wars’ footwear and accessories for kids. The range will be sold this summer at Payless ShoeSource and Stride Rite stores.

The multi-year deal sees both Payless and Stride Rite gaining access to Lucasfilm’s archive of Star Wars logos, characters and creatures from all six live-action films, as well as from the animated “Star Wars: The Clone Wars” series, which currently airs on Cartoon Network. The Stride Rite children’s group will produce a line of children’s footwear to be sold this June at its stores and www.striderite.com, as well as wholesale partners, including department stores and specialty shops. Meanwhile, the line for Payless will feature a character-themed collection of children’s footwear and select accessories. It will be available early July in stores and at www.payless.com.

“We are thrilled to collaborate with Lucasfilm to bring the iconic Star Wars characters to life on our footwear products sold through our Payless and Stride Rite selling channels,” says Matt Rubel, chief executive officer of Collective Brands. “Our children’s business is an important area of growth for Collective Brands and this collaboration is a strong example of how we are leveraging the infrastructure of our company overall to forge powerful partnerships and gain access to inspiring licenses that can be shared across our business units in different ways for each brand’s target consumers.”

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