Caleres, the market-leading portfolio of consumer-driven footwear brands, announced today the promotion of Natelle Baddeley to chief design and product officer. Natelle will continue to report to Jay Schmidt, chief executive officer of Caleres. The appointment is effective immediately.
In this role, Baddeley has creative oversight for the majority of the Caleres brand portfolio, including Naturalizer, Vionic, Dr. Scholl’s, Veronica Beard, Vince, Franco Sarto, Blowfish Malibu and LifeStride. She will be responsible for leading product strategy across design, merchandising, and innovation.
In addition, she will continue to champion Caleres’ sustainability efforts to minimize the impact of manufacturing on the environment, efforts that 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.
“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 her accomplishments is Cal Lab, an internal communication platform at Caleres she implemented that highlights new trends and innovations to spark learning and ideation across the organization.
Baddeley joined Caleres in 2018 as senior vice president, design, merchandise, and product development strategy. Her career in footwear and accessories spans more than 30 years, including time as the senior vice President 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. She also led footwear design at many European brands as well as retailers Debenhams and Marks and Spencer. Baddeley studied at the London College of Fashion, University of the Arts, specializing in footwear.
“I am thrilled to have Natelle join the Caleres senior leadership team. This newly created position demonstrates our strategic vision and commitment to placing design and product innovation at the forefront of everything we do as an organization to accelerate growth in our brands.”
Said Baddeley, “I am tremendously proud of the work we have done over the last five years to elevate product across Caleres’ portfolio of powerful brands. I am passionate about innovation as the catalyst to accelerate brand value, improve customer loyalty and ultimately drive growth. I look forward to working closely with Jay and the senior leadership team to achieve the strategic, long-term vision of Caleres.”
