Famous Footwear parent company names first-ever chief design & product officer
Caleres has expanded its C-suite.
The footwear giant, whose brands include Famous Footwear, Sam Edelman, Naturalizer, Allen Edmonds and more, has promoted Natelle Baddeley to the newly created position of chief design and product officer, effective immediately.
In her new role, Baddeley has creative oversight for the majority of the Caleres brand portfolio. She will be responsible for leading product strategy across design, merchandising, and innovation.
Baddele, a 30-year footwear and accessories veteran, joined Caleres in 2018 as senior VP, design, merchandise, and product development strategy. Prior to that, she was the senior VP and creative director of global design for Nine West and Bandolino at Jones Apparel Group, where she was responsible for global trend and design direction for all footwear and accessory product categories, including all licenses
Baddeley also led footwear design at leading European retailers, including Debenhams and Marks and Spencer.
"Natelle's passion for the Brand Portfolio and its consumers, combined with her considerable design acumen and technical expertise has made her a natural fit for this role," said Jay Schmidt, president and CEO of Caleres. "She has a proven track record of improving go-to-market strategy, shaping creativity, designing commercial best-sellers, and developing her team members’ talents.”
Chief among Baddeley’s accomplishments at Caleres was her implementation of Cal Lab, an internal communication platform that highlights new trends and innovations “to spark learning and ideation across the organization,” Schmidt added.
In addition to her new responsibilities, Baddeley will continue to champion Caleres’ sustainability efforts to minimize the impact of manufacturing on the environment. The efforts have not only driven significant progress toward the company’s 2025 environmental, social and governance (ESG) commitments, but also earned Caleres recognition as one of America’s Most Responsible Companies by Newsweek and one of America’s Climate Leaders by USA Today, the company noted.
“I am tremendously proud of the work we have done over the last five years to elevate product across Caleres’ portfolio of powerful brands,” said Baddeley. “I am passionate about innovation as the catalyst to accelerate brand value, improve customer loyalty and ultimately drive growth.”
Caleres has a portfolio of global footwear brands that include Famous Footwear, Sam Edelman, Vionic, Naturalizer, Allen Edmonds, LifeStride, and more. It operates nearly 1,000 stores and its products are also available major department and specialty stores, its branded e-commerce sites, and on many additional third-party retail websites.