• The Wall Street Journal, Friday, February 1, 2008 11:45 AM

Florsheim--the century old Milwaukee-based shoe company known for its wing tips--hopes to reinvigorate its mid-tier brand with a premium line by menswear designer Duckie Brown that will be introduced in summer 2009.

Duckie Brown co-designers--Steven Cox from London and Daniel Silver from Toronto--are known for sending particularly outlandish styles down the runway, such as male models in shirt dresses, gold-lamé sequin hoodies and trousers decorated with giant peonies. The label is carried in only about 18 stores worldwide. John Florsheim, president of Weyco Group and its Florsheim unit, says the company considered bigger names but decided to go with an "up-and-coming" designer brand "that's a little less predictable."

Florsheim executives learned of the Duckie Brown team from an item in The New Yorker magazine about a New Jersey high-school senior who asked the designers to make a prom suit for him. They did--and sent along a pair of Florsheim shoes to wear with it.

Read the whole story at The Wall Street Journal »