Timberland Taps Consumers To Design Its Next Boots

STRATHAM, N.H., March 9, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Want to be Timberland's next designer? Now, consumers have that chance. Leading global outdoor lifestyle brand Timberland and Betabrand, a crowdfunded clothing company, are collaborating on a unique, crowdsourced product development project to bring Timberland's new Craftletic™ collection to life. Through this partnership, Timberland is turning to Betabrand and consumers around the globe to help shape its new shoe collection through an inspired co-creation process.

"Partnering with Betabrand gives Timberland the opportunity to engage consumers in a dialogue in a truly innovative way, and test new design concepts in real-time, from their infancy through to creation," said Jay Steere, Senior Director Timberland Innovation Lead. "Every consumer has the ability to be a part of this process, not only contributing to Timberland's style conversation by co-creating the Craftletics™ collection, but also to see which boot consumers are most interested in buying. We're excited to see which concept wins!"   

This partnership will help inform design and product merchandising decisions for Timberland's new Craftletic™ collection, which marries the brand's hallmark craftsmanship with an athletic ease-of-wear for faster styling. By tapping directly into Betabrand consumers for insights, the collection will be built from the ground up, arriving to market in Fall 2016 to Betabrand shoppers and through select Timberland distribution channels.

How does it work?  
Timberland's internal design collective sketched the shape and structure of 14 styles across three unisex boot categories, which will later become footwear for men and women. A two-phase process puts consumers in the driver's seat:

• Phase 1 / The Timberland x Betabrand Think Tank: Consumers are invited to interact with the Timberland design collective by voting and commenting on three unisex Timberland concepts they'd like to see come to market, while also weighing in on design elements from materials, color and even if the shoe will be for men or women. The concepts – Modern Nomad, Urbanization and Neorganic – will be up on Betabrand's site until March 17^th. From there, the best-received idea will get made into a prototype based on the actual suggestions from the crowd.
• Phase 2 / Craftletic™ Crowdfunding: The prototypes becomes available for crowdfunding on May 13^th. Consumers will be asked to bid on the footwear they helped create and within a short window, data will determine if the chosen Craftletic™ design created enough demand to go into production.

"Timberland is the largest lifestyle brand Betabrand has ever collaborated with and we're excited about the impact our crowd-sourced design process can have on these boots," said Chris Lindland, CEO of Betabrand. "Together we're creating an innovative model through a system that gives new meaning to the term 'fast fashion' – using a quick crowd sourcing period to inform design decisions and bring first-to-market product in a faster way than ever before."

Want to be a part of Timberland and Betabrand's unique design process? Visit Betabrand to help create Timberland's New Craftletic™ collection.

ABOUT TIMBERLAND 
Timberland is a global leader in the design, manufacturing and marketing of premium footwear, apparel and accessories for the outdoor lifestyle. Best known for the original yellow boot introduced in 1973, Timberland today outfits consumers from toe-to-head, with versatile collections that reflect the brand's rich heritage of craftsmanship, function and style. Timberland markets lifestyle products under the Timberland^® and Timberland Boot Company^® brands, and industrial footwear and workwear under the Timberland PRO^® brand. Its products are sold throughout the world in leading department and specialty stores as well as company-owned retail locations and online. Timberland's dedication to making quality products is matched by an unwavering commitment to environmental and social responsibility – to make things better for its products, the outdoors, and communities around the globe. To learn more about Timberland, a brand of VF Corporation (NYSE: VFC), please visit timberland.com or follow us along the modern trail @timberland.

ABOUT BETABRAND 
Betabrand is a crowdfunded clothing company that releases new products daily from designers all over the world. Notable creations include:  Dress Pant Yoga Pants, Black Sheep Sweaters, Under-the-Jack packs, The Suitsy, Executive Hoodies, Cordarounds and many more. The online retailer is based in San Francisco and ships to customers on every continent. Antarctica too.

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SOURCE Timberland

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