Christian Siriano to design shoes and handbags for Payless Shoes

Posted by Helen Lee at 10:22 pm December 1st, 2008 | 4 comments

Arguably the most recognizable winner of Project Runway (and one of the most memorable), Christian Siriano is branching out into footwear and handbags with a Fall 2009 collection exclusively for Payless ShoeSource.

“I’m all about the runway and the sidewalks!” said Siriano. “I’ve already been working with the Payless Design Team in New York, and I can’t wait to see how they will take the high-end shoes and bags I’m designing for the runway and turn them into pieces that everyone can buy.”

The first of the multi-season collection will be unveiled at Siriano’s Fall 2009 show at New York Fashion Week in February before hitting Payless stores in the fall with prices set to range from $25 to $45.

“Christian is among the next great American fashion designers, and we are thrilled to continue to expand the Payless Designer Collections and to add Christian as our newest designer partner,” said LuAnn Via, president and chief executive officer of Payless ShoeSource.

He joins the likes of Lela Rose, Stacey Bendet (of Alice + Olivia), Laura Poretzky (Abaete designers) and Patricia Field to design a shoe collection for Payless.