Candies Are Dandy

When Candie's CEO Neil Cole announced that he was bringing back the
shoe company's "slide," a sexy, high-heel mule that sold more than 14
million pairs in the late 1970s and early '80s, his lawyer had only one
thing to say: "Increase your liability insurance!" After all, to a new
generation of women used to bopping around in sneakers and Doc
Martens, the task of staying upright in the three-to-four-inch-high slides
(they're strapless and backless: You just slide 'em on) could prove a
challenge of towering proportions.

Back in 1979, the combination of a kicky ad campaign by "Flashdance"
director Adrian Lyne and the sight of Olivia Newton-John sliding her
way through "Grease" made the original Candie's the gotta-have-it shoe
of the year (a staggering one out of three women age 15-25 owned a
pair).

But, like all fads, this one faded -- until a year ago, when calls from
fashion editors looking for shoes to pair with retro '70s fashions
convinced Cole that the time was right for a Candie's revival. Quicker
than you can say tube top, Frasier's Jane Leeves, Party of Five's Jennifer
Love Hewitt, and Friends stars Jennifer Aniston and Lisa Kudrow were
slipping into $35 classic Candie's, as well as the newer (and more
expensive) designer versions by Betsey Johnson, Anna Sui, Nicole
Miller, and Vivienne Tam. Hush Puppies made a comeback last year, so
why shouldn't the kitschy Candie's? No other shoe evokes memories of
disco dates and prom nights quite so well. And, as Something So Right's
Marne Patterson, a self-described "shoe freak" and a recent Candie's
convert, explains, "They add some height, they're not too sophisticated,
they're really 'cutesy' -- who could resist?"

by Lynn Schnurnberger /TV Guide

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