3 Footwear Brands Among Saks’ Second Emerging Designer Accelerator Program

Saks has launched the second year of its emerging designer accelerator program, The New Wave, this time with three footwear brands included. The line-up this year features eight new brands including Claude Kameni, Ludovic de Saint Sernin, Undra Celeste, Who Decides War, and Zeynep Arcay, as well as shoe brands Keeyahri, Nalebe, and Sunni Sunni. According to Saks, the purpose of the program remains to develop and support high-potential independent brands in accelerating their growth at the retailer, and ultimately across the greater fashion industry. This year, participating designers were sourced from all categories including men’s and gender-neutral brands, which are new to the program, Saks said. Participants were identified by the Saks leadership team as brands that have significant growth potential but require additional support to scale their businesses. Sunni Sunni’s Reese snake embossed boot. CREDIT: Saks Another goal of the program is to emphasize BIPOC voices, with Saks ensuring that each year at least half of the participating brands are BIPOC-owned. This year, six of the eight participating designers are BIPOC. The first iteration of The New Wave launched in June 2021 as part of Saks’ DEI roadmap outlining goals to advance its diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts, including a commitment to increase

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