Nine West
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Nine West is an American fashion brand best known for women's footwear and accessories, founded in 1978 by Jerome Fisher and Vince Camuto in New York City. Nine West was named for its founding location in the Solow Building at 9 West 57th Street in New York City. In 1979 the founders moved to 9 West 57th Street and, trying to decide on a name for their label, one of them looked out the window, saw the number 9, and chose the name "Nine West." In 1983, Nine West opened its first specialty retail store in Stamford, Connecticut, and in 1986 launched its first national ad campaign.
The brand grew rapidly under Camuto's leadership, becoming one of the leading names in accessible American fashion footwear. Initially founded as a fashion footwear brand, Nine West expanded into handbags, sunglasses, legwear, outerwear, jewelry, belts, watches, cold weather accessories, hats, scarves and wraps, and eyewear, and after launching handbags in 1995, further expanded into dresses, suits and children's footwear. This passion for giving the customer what she wanted drove Camuto to co-found Nine West in 1978, and after two decades of building it into a globally recognized powerhouse brand, he sold the company for $900 million in 1999. The company expanded internationally with a Hong Kong location in 1994 and has since become a brand retailed in over 800 global locations in 57 countries.
Nine West's handbags and accessories from this era are valued by collectors for representing a distinctive moment in American fashion retail, when the brand pioneered bringing runway-inspired design to a mass, affordable price point. The brand's philosophy centered on customers experiencing quality leather and craftsmanship while being pleasantly surprised by an accessible price. Pieces bearing the original Nine West branding reflect the design sensibility that made it one of the most recognizable names in American fashion accessories through the late 20th and early 21st centuries.
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