ZACHARY WEISS TALKS TEAMING UP WITH STUBBS & WOOTTON ON FOOTWEAR CAPSULE

by Stephen Garner Oct 16, 2020

Writer, brand consultant, and man about town Zachary Weiss is taking his love of dressing up and looking great to a new level with his latest venture. Launching today, the Vogue and British GQ contributor has teamed up with Stubbs & Wootton on a footwear capsule collection.

For this collection, Weiss has chosen six designs, available for both men and women, that reflect the pleasures he enjoys while traveling – something he has been missing since COVID-19 has forced most “frivolous” travel to pause this year.

“During this time spent cooped up in my New York City apartment, there’s nothing I’ve missed more than traveling to new destinations near and far, and the fun and frivolous elements of hotel living that come along with it,” he says. “From a Red Snapper morning pick-me-up, to a hearty club sandwich with fries, to an evening spent sipping Champagne until the wee hours of the morning, each day on the road is filled with these not-so-simple pleasures that set travel apart from our everyday.”

Here, we chat with Weiss on how this collection came to fruition, why his line will be sold at St. Regis hotels, and if he has any more collaborations in the works

Q: How did this new partnership with Stubbs & Wootton come about?

A: I wore my first pair of Stubbs & Wootton shoes — the classic “SCREW U” tuxedo slipper — to my senior prom after they were given to me as a gift. That got me hooked, and over a decade later, I’m a card-carrying member of their cult following, which I’ve found is made up of these obsessives who don’t just have one or two pairs, but 10 or 20 or 100. After getting to know their creative director Thomas Fortune out and about in New York, we kept bouncing around ideas for some custom shoe designs just for me to have in my closet, but the results were too good to keep to ourselves and we decided to bring them to the masses!

Q: How did St. Regis get involved?

A: All six of these designs were inspired by the sort of frivolous, decadent moments we experience while traveling, and for me, a lot of these occasions in the past several years have taken place, just by chance, at St. Regis properties around the world — from eating a club sandwich in my pajamas in the lobby of the St. Regis Rome, to retracing the history of the Bloody Mary which began at the St. Regis New York’s King Cole Bar, to the nightly champagne sabering at the St. Regis Aspen.

So, given that this family of hotels had such a clear through-line in these great moments, they were such a fitting partner to help amplify this project, which has been in the works since before the pandemic began here in the U.S. Now, looking back on these designs, I appreciate these memories even more.

Q: What’re you most excited about in terms of this new venture?

A: Apart from the joy of getting to wear these shoes every day — and forcing my friends to do the same — I think I’m most excited by the fact that this really is a brand I’ve known and loved for such a long time. If you told me ten years ago I would have designed a capsule collection of my own for Stubbs & Wootton, I’d call you crazy!

Q: Any more collabs coming down the line?

A: Yes! Nothing set in stone just yet, but all of this time spent in my apartment has made me want to break into interiors.

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Weiss’ new collab with Stubbs & Wootton, with each pair retailing for $550, is now available through the holiday season exclusively at stubbsandwootton.com and select St. Regis Hotels around the world.