Hotter footwear strengthens design team

Footwear brand Hotter, which celebrates its Diamond anniversary next year, is looking to strengthen its design focus with the appointment of a new roster of designers, spearheaded by newly appointment chief product officer Claire Pearl.

Pearl, who joined Hotter last month from Hobbs, is looking to transform the 60-year-old company’s products, and has added Cordwainers trained Helen Kundra, who has worked at both Timberland and Hush Puppies, as senior designer, while Dawn Linley-Hill joins as senior freelance designer and brings considerable experience in the industry having worked at several fashion and footwear brands including Startrite and Boohoo.

They join existing senior designer Andy Taylor, who is an expert in injection moulded footwear design. He has worked at Hotter for 10 years and prior to that at Clarks and Marks and Spencers.

The final appointment, is Camilla Andrews as freelance designer, who brings with her experience with Hobbs and Toast to her role to move forward the brand’s accessories offer in alignment with product development.

“Our customer is stylish and self-assured, she demands and deserves footwear that is perfect for every occasion and, more importantly, delivers her a perfect, customised, fit every time,” explained Claire Pearl in a statement. “I have brought together a design team with a spread of expertise across several key areas that are fundamental to our brand’s development. We are already working closely on refining our DNA and I am confident this team will deliver the thoughtful design and attention to detail demanded at this level of the market.”

Footwear brand Hotter adds to design team ahead of 60th anniversary in 2020

Hotter chief executive Ian Watson added: “This is an exciting time for Hotter, and there is no better time than our 60th year to both celebrate the strength of our brand and look forward, in an ever-changing market, to creating a truly inspiring future.

“We have a raft of measures throughout the business to guarantee our future development, but product truly is at the heart of everything we do. Claire’s team will build on iconic Hotter styling elements whilst introducing a more stylish, modern and relevant emphasis to our offer. I am confident the team will propel us forward as we continue to delight and surprise our customers and create more Hotter fans.”

The appointments comes just weeks after the footwear brand named Adam Griggs as its new chief financial officer. Griggs joined from restaurant chain Bistrot Pierre, and will lead the footwear brand’s finance and IT teams.

Private Equity owned footwear brand Hotter was established in 1959 and is based in Lancashire.

Image: Hotter Facebook