Yes, Elections Are Coming Up and Naturalizer Wants Women to Go Vote
Jennie Bell
Deputy Managing Editor
Naturalizer continues to empower women in its messaging — this time for election season.
Ahead of the 2023 elections on Nov. 7, the footwear brand has launched a new campaign and limited-edition boot that encourages women to use their collective power at the ballot box to stand up for change.
Designed on one of the brand’s best-selling silhouettes, the Callie Power boot features a word-filled print on the upper that reads: “I am Powerful, Outspoken, Unique, Strong, Legit, Authentic, Passionate, Fearless, Brave, Courageous.” Available now on Naturalizer.com, the boot retails for $200, with a portion of proceeds going I Am a Voter, a nonprofit organization dedicated to boosting civic participation, especially among women.
To further amplify the shoe’s message, Naturalizer launched a new iteration of its fall campaign series featuring entrepreneurs and activists Khrystyana, Lauren Chan and Nana Agyemang (who appeared in ads earlier this season for the brand’s “Power” pump). Each of them model the Callie Power boot, alongside a quote about what their power word is.
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Naturalizer has a history of engaging in get-out-the-vote efforts. In 2020, for instance, the brand launched another version of the Callie in partnership with Rebecca Lee Funk, founder of activist network The Outrage and donated proceeds from that initiative to an organization supporting female political candidates.
Naturalizer’s mission to support and embolden women has a deep history, the brand’s leaders revealed earlier this year during a panel talk at the WWD x FN x Beauty Inc Women in Power event in New York in September.
“We were actually the first company to make shoes specifically for women,” chief marketing officer Jenny Olsen said of Naturalizer, which was founded in 1927. “Before the turn of the century, they were making all shoes on a men’s form and they would just make it a little smaller and the company came in and changed all of that. We’re super proud to work for this company and to be here today.”
Angelique Joseph, senior vice president of design and product development at its parent company, Caleres, pointed out during the panel that Naturalizer’s history gives it permission to authentically engage in today’s issues.
“We’re lucky because the essence of Naturalizer is crazy relevant almost 100 years later,” she said. “I’ve loved all the conversation about purpose-driven brands … our purpose is to put women first. It starts with the shoe, then it’s about the woman herself, and ultimately it’s about all women.”
