Hush Puppies' Comeback Is No Small Feat -- Shoe Finds Revival With Retro Style

LOS ANGELES - Hush Puppies, the brushed pigskin shoes popular when Kennedy was president, have a new leash on life.

Thanks to a revival of retro fashions, the clunky shoes long shunned again have broad appeal. Wolverine World Wide, based in Grand Rapids, Mich., expects sales to surpass 1.5 million pairs this year.

"A geek chic thing was happening, and the shoes fit right in," said Jeff Lewis, Wolverine's vice president of marketing.

New York men's clothing designer John Bartlett unexpectedly triggered the comeback when he called wanting dyed-to-match shoes for his 1995 fashion show.

Then musician Harry Connick Jr. wore purple Hush Puppies from Bartlett on "The Tonight Show With Jay Leno", showing off the shoes by cartwheeling onstage.

Hush Puppies also received an unplanned plug when actor Tom Hanks wore them in "Forrest Gump," a film partly set in the 60s.

"There was something in the air," Lewis said. "We had the feeling the shoes would take off if we tried as hard as we could to react.

Wolverine, known for its functional boots worn by construction workers, put an outside stylist in New York on retainer and sought out retro designers and let them run with gimmicky ideas.

At the Pleasure Swell, a boutique on La Brea Avenue, Joel Fitzpatrick sells exclusive designs, glow-in-the-dark Hush Puppies and "bulletproof" models made with Kevlar, a synthetic fiber used in bulletproof vests. A platform-soled shoe is expected in the fall.

In 1995, fashion boutiques in Los Angeles and New York's SoHo district snapped up the decades-old styles in updated hues: lime green, powder blue, electric orange.

Helping the brand with shopping mall customers is a trend toward informal office wear, retailers say.

"We are living in a much more casual workplace today, and Hush Puppies are right up that alley," said Jim Gundell, senior vice president in charge of men's footwear at Bloomingdale's.

Behind the return of Hush Puppies is a three-year corporate reorganization, beginning in 1993. Wolverine streamlined divisions, cut costs and modernized factories to enable the company to respond more quickly to trends.

Sales climbed to $511.1 million in 1996 and income nearly tripled to $32.9 million in 1996 from $11.5 million in 1993.

Seated at a bare wood table in a loft overlooking the sales floor, Fitzpatrick displays his latest creations: bright pink and green shoes with square toes - a shape inspired by a pair of Armani sunglasses.

"Rectangles are going to be big," Fitzpatrick said.

Having gotten the shoes on all the right feet, including David Bowie, Susan Sarandon and Ellen DeGeneres, Wolverine is spending an estimated $5 million on TV ads aimed at mainstream consumers - 18 to 34 years old, the first commercials for Hush Puppies in 10 years. Magazine ads will be shot by celebrity photographer Richard Avedon - a nod to the shoes' fashion-forward image.

The ads avoid nostalgia; the only hint at its heritage is the basset hound with the slogan "We invented casual."

"We want to show the shoes are casual and cool and up with the style of today," said Chris Elliott, creative director at Wolverine agency Bozell Worldwide.