BOBS from Skechers® Design Scholarship Winners Announced
The Company has selected two talented Southern California college students whose adopted animals inspired their personal graphic prints
LOS ANGELES, January 25, 2024--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Pet lovers, give a round of paws for the two talented winners of Skechers’ Paws for a Cause Design Scholarship! The brand is awarding Southern California juniors Teeny Nadeau of Cal State Fullerton and Maki Shigetani of USC with tuition funds and corporate mentorships, and will produce their creative animal prints on a key BOBS from Skechers® style as part of a limited-edition collection in June 2024.
Both winners’ patterns were inspired by personal experiences with their adopted animals; Nadeau’s cat mosaic is in honor of her regal rescue cat Firefly, who recently passed away from cancer. Shigetani designed her "Bark ‘n’ Drive" dog mosaic in tribute to her family’s dogs, whose unconditional love has helped support her mental health and brought her family joy during the pandemic.
"The BOBS movement has been embraced by millions looking for new ways to improve animal welfare. Thanks to their purchases and enthusiasm, we’ve already helped save and care for approximately two million animals," said Kathy Kartalis, senior vice president of global product for Skechers. "Many college students use BOBS as their go-to campus styles, and we saw this as a great opportunity for them to participate on a deeper level—to share their talents and help save shelter pets through their own graphic prints and stories. To see so many emotional submissions from across the country was inspiring. Narrowing the decision down to the finalists was a real challenge, but we are thrilled with our two winning entries, who happen to be attending colleges in Southern California. We look forward to seeing people across the United States wearing their patterns later this year."
In addition to having their prints featured in the 2024 BOBS collection, Nadeau and Shigetani will each receive a $10,000 college scholarship from the Skechers Foundation and one-on-one corporate mentorship sessions with key Skechers design personnel—along with a donation to a nearby animal welfare organization in their pets’ honor.
Open to enrolled students at United States colleges and universities, the BOBS from Skechers Paws for a Cause Design Scholarship program invited applicants nationwide to create a dog- or cat-themed print for a BOBS from Skechers shoe, write about the design and share a personal story about a shelter/adopted pet or what the BOBS from Skechers collection means to them. The finalists included students from 20 schools nationwide, including colleges in Florida, Georgia, Maryland, Missouri, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Texas, Utah, Virginia and Wisconsin.
BOBS from Skechers product is available online, at Skechers stores, and at department and specialty locations. For every specially marked item purchased, a donation is made to support shelter pets and animal welfare organizations in the United States, Canada and select international markets. To learn more, follow BOBS from Skechers on Facebook and Instagram, or visit BOBSfromSkechers.com.
About SKECHERS U.S.A., Inc.
Skechers U.S.A., Inc. (NYSE:SKX), a Fortune 500® company based in Southern California, designs, develops and markets a diverse range of lifestyle and performance footwear, apparel and accessories for men, women and children. Collections from The Comfort Technology Company™ are available in 180 countries and territories through department and specialty stores, and direct to consumers through digital stores and approximately 5,000 Company- and third-party-owned physical retail stores. The Company manages its international business through a network of wholly-owned subsidiaries, joint venture partners, and distributors. For more information, please visit about.skechers.com and follow us on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok.
About BOBS from Skechers®
BOBS from Skechers’ charitable collection of shoes, apparel and accessories have improved animals’ lives: over the past eight years, Skechers has contributed more than $10 million to help 1.9 million shelter pets, including saving more than 1.4 million rescued animals in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom and Japan. It all started in 2011, when Skechers launched a movement to support children impacted by natural disasters and poverty—a cause that has helped the Company donate more than 16 million new pairs of shoes to kids in more than 60 countries worldwide. To learn more about BOBS from Skechers’ commitment to making a difference, visit BOBSfromSkechers.com and follow the brand on Facebook and Instagram.
This announcement contains forward-looking statements that are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. These forward-looking statements may include, without limitation, Skechers’ future domestic and international growth, financial results and operations including expected net sales and earnings, its development of new products, future demand for its products, its planned domestic and international expansion, opening of new stores and additional expenditures, and advertising and marketing initiatives. Forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking language such as "believe," "anticipate," "expect," "estimate," "intend," "plan," "project," "will," "could," "may," "might," or any variations of such words with similar meanings. Any such statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected in forward-looking statements. Factors that might cause or contribute to such differences include the disruption of business and operations due to the COVID-19 pandemic; delays or disruptions in our supply chain; international economic, political and market conditions including the effects of inflation and foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations around the world, the challenging consumer retail markets in the United States, and the impact of wars, acts of war and other conflicts around the world; sustaining, managing and forecasting costs and proper inventory levels; losing any significant customers; decreased demand by industry retailers and cancellation of order commitments due to the lack of popularity of particular designs and/or categories of products; maintaining brand image and intense competition among sellers of footwear for consumers, especially in the highly competitive performance footwear market; anticipating, identifying, interpreting or forecasting changes in fashion trends, consumer demand for the products and the various market factors described above; sales levels during the spring, back-to-school and holiday selling seasons; and other factors referenced or incorporated by reference in Skechers’ annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2022 and its quarterly reports on Form 10-Q in 2023. Taking these and other risk factors associated with the COVID-19 pandemic into consideration, the dynamic nature of these circumstances means that what is stated in this press release could change at any time, and as a result, actual results could differ materially from those contemplated by such forward-looking statements. The risks included here are not exhaustive. Skechers operates in a very competitive and rapidly changing environment. New risks emerge from time to time and we cannot predict all such risk factors, nor can we assess the impact of all such risk factors on our business or the extent to which any factor, or combination of factors, may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statements. Given these risks and uncertainties, you should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements as a prediction of actual results. Moreover, reported results should not be considered an indication of future performance.
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Contacts
Jennifer Clay
SKECHERS U.S.A., Inc.
jennc@skechers.com
