Dear Lands’ End,

I recently bought my two grandsons each a pair of white Canvas Slip-ons and bought myself a pair of your Mainstay Canvas Oxford shoes. I haven’t had a pair of what I call “plain ole sneakers” in years. All 3 pairs were just what I had been looking for.

One of the boys is a 7-year-old amazing hockey player; the other one is simply an adorable 4 year old who loves his dog Ranger more than he loves his toys!

Being an artistic “Nana” (I teach art in my home studio) the 3 pairs of shoes were just nagging at me (almost like a chant) to “paint me, paint me, paint me.” So I probably don’t have to tell you what happened after that.

The boys just love their fun, new sneakers. I haven’t even worn mine yet but just from the pictures, I’ve already gotten orders for them.

All I can say is, “Thanks Lands’ End!”

Oh, and when you have a moment take a quick look on the internet and see what hand painted shoes can cost. Now imagine what these are worth because of their quality!

Artfully,
Susan D.
Auburn, NY

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The post “Paint Me, Paint Me!” appeared first on The Lands' End Blog.

By Dan, Art Director-Product
March madness means something else for me. It means counting the stir crazy days waiting for my spring break. An annual excursion to South By Southwest that is the only cure for my cabin fever. In case you haven’t heard of it, SXSW is a music, film, and interactive mega-festival in Austin Texas.

All winter I dream of sunshine, tacos, and old friends. This year my fiancé Page (a Lands’ End artist) and I brought our band, Dream Boat, to the festival.  Out first showcase was at the opening of the Helm Boots flagship store where we got a tour and personal fitting from our friend and boot guru, Joshua Bingaman. The place looked great and we got to see his new Made in America line. Plus, I was able to walk off into the sunset in a new pair of photo-shoot boots! After Page played two solo sets, we relaxed and mingle with lots of Austin creative folks while sipping on some Handsome Coffee.

We also met up with some dear friends who were at SXSW promoting their new independent movies. James Ponsoldt was showing his film, “The Spectacular Now,” which was a hit at Sundance and Craig Zobel was promoting his latest production ­– a new David Gordon Green film starring Paul Rudd called “Prince Avalanche.”

Later on, Mike Tully gave us a private sneak peak of “Ping Pong Summer,” an incredible eighties coming of age story, starring Susan Sarandon, Amy Sedaris, and Robert Longstreet. Robert watched the film with us and we got to share laughs and musical ideas over some local Austin beer.

We were also lucky enough to have acclaimed graphic designer, Chris Bilheimer, give us a personalized tour of some locations featuring local artists and artisans. We started at his exhibit inside the GSD&M ad agency. It was exciting to see Chris’ twenty years of graphic mastery on display.

Afterwards, we visited the Bearded Lady printshop. They were hard at work finishing posters for half of the events at SXSW. Resident artist Abi Daniel showed us her amazing watercolors and illustrations. Hopefully she’ll soon be painting some Lands’ End Kids’ tees for us!

Later that day we stopped by to see Allen, the owner of Revival Cycles, where we got to see some of his newest motorcycle masterpieces being assembled. His place is a museum full of classic motorcycles and cars and is an incredible resource for gearheads and artists alike. Page was lucky enough to get a wild ride with Allen in his perfectly restored 1964 Jaguar E Type. She returned very smiley and wind blown.

Another stop on out visual voyage was the Helms Design Studio where we were given a tour of their latest projects. Helms has decorated tons of Austin’s hot spots and eateries, as well as branded a few local beers. Needless to say, we felt it was our duty to sample some of their handiwork.  It was delicious and the labels were well designed.

With so much food, drink and cool stuff surrounding us at all times we almost forgot there were upwards of 2000 bands playing the festival. So we decided to head towards the music.

We saw “Experimental Aircraft,” a longtime Austin favorite featuring a couple of our friends from the band “All in the Golden Afternoon.”

We also saw an amazing Argentinian music showcase hosted by our friends at Team Clermont, as well as their other showcase featuring a 35-drummer parade. After these shows the rest of the day was spent hopping from venue to venue listening to more bands perform and eating tacos from trucks along the way.

Before heading out of town, our band had one last show to play at Progress Coffee, Austin’s most respected coffeehouse located by the Fader Fort – the epicenter of SXSW. Page was also able to perform before we were swept away on a mad dash to the airport, but not before a quick stop at Switched On (my favorite synthesizer store in the world) where I drooled over some new synths before being yanked back to reality – and a long journey home.

Exhausted and happy, we returned to Madison with enough great memories to get us through to the spring thaw.

The post Austin has Powers! appeared first on The Lands' End Blog.

Illustration by David Shannon

We still get a chuckle, every time we look at it. The kid, bundled up to the point of complete immobility. The bootlace, untied and treacherous as a banana peel. Everybody’s classic winter memory.

It was the cover of our Winter 1994 kids’ catalog. Maybe our favorite Lands’ End catalog cover of all time. How did artist David Shannon ever come up with the idea?

“I grew up in Spokane, Washington,” says David, the author of notable children’s books that include No, David! and How Georgie Radbourn Saved Baseball. “The winters there are long, cold and heavy. Bundling up was a complex and time-consuming endeavor. So I guess I was that kid in the snowsuit.”

“Snow down the pants was the worst,” remembers David. “You had to tuck in layers of clothing to keep snow from making contact with your skin while you were playing.”

What about the untied shoelace? “That’s what makes it funny – you know that now the whole bundling up process has to be dismantled and reassem-bled. You feel for the poor kid.”

(Of course, you also wonder what’s going to happen when he has to go to the bathroom.)

Our customers loved the cover. And so did the clients of Every Picture Tells a Story, the Los Angeles children’s art gallery which represents David’s work.

“Everyone wanted to buy it,” recalls co-owner Lois Sarkisian. “Our art collectors felt a genuine connection with what David had done. His use of acrylics – layered, rich, beautiful – show off his great technical skills and his artistic integrity. When you combine those with his sly sense of humor, you get an image that you remember always.”

David Shannon is just one of the notable artists who have created a cover for the Lands’ End kids’ catalogs over the years. Maurice Sendak, Mark Teague and Mary GrandPre (artist for the American version Harry Potter books) are among many others who also made wonderful contributions. For all of us at Lands’ End, it was like a continuous Christmas Eve, waiting for the latest artwork to arrive in its big, well-protected package. Our customers told us they and their children felt the same way, as they waited expectantly for each new issue of the catalog.

But nothing ever topped the kid in the snowsuit.

The post Snowsuit appeared first on The Lands' End Blog.

I’m the CEO and President of Lands’ End … and have an equally rewarding job as father of a five-year old. Indeed, she is one of the biggest reasons my wife and I are so passionate about this company.

In a world saturated with poorly made clothing for kids, often in styles that would have them grow up too fast, Lands’ End Kids is a beacon for real-kid clothes. Like our Iron Knee® Pants, which won a 2013 Good Housekeeping VIP award. Everything we bring your family reflects quality that is Guaranteed. Period.® Style that is timeless. And value we feel is unrivaled.

2013 is the fiftieth year of a voyage that has taken us from Chicago to Wisconsin to the front porches and apartment doors around the world where our packages arrive every day. We remain committed to delivering the very best experience we can for our extended family. And family you are, in our eyes. Always deserving of friendly help and fair treatment.

Thank you for connecting through product reviews, Facebook, phone calls, store visits, email and now this blog. Half a century along, we are still listening.

That’s guaranteed, too.

Sincerely,

Edgar Huber
CEO and President
Edgar@landsend.com

The post Welcome To The View From The Lighthouse! appeared first on The Lands' End Blog.

While down there we had the opportunity to work with legendary model India Hicks and her daughter – who took quite an interest in setting up her own little photo shoot of her mom.

“Say Cheese”

Like mother, like daughter.

India, and her other half, David, have designed four West Indian style houses on the island, which have become hugely popular with fashion crews.  She owns The Sugar Mill Boutique (a treasure trove of eclectic finds), wrote a book called Island Life, has a fine jewelry line and oh yeah – she’s also raising four kids.

We also got to hang out with Ben – one of the coolest locals who had a knack for wrangling up unique props for us to use throughout the shoot. Ben was constantly on-the-go but always found time towards the end of the day to strap on his kiteboard and carve the shallows with his dogs in chase.

“Ben sporting a pair of our Lands’ End Board Shorts”

“Salty dogs”

“Waverunner”

While it may still look and feel like winter outside your window, we promise summer is on its way.

The post On Island Time. . . appeared first on The Lands' End Blog.

The Caterpillar brand lends itself to playing in the dirt, but that’s not what you see here. It’s crumbled Oreo cookies. They’re easier to size and shape, though tougher not to eat. The buttons are pea gravel scooped up from the photographer’s driveway. The CAT logo is a swatch created by our in-house embroidery team.

Our stylist shopped for seeds at a local feed mill using a criteria they seemed unfamiliar with: seed size and beauty. She created a clay base, and while the clay was moist, placed every seed you see here by hand. The stripes on the shirt are sunflower seeds. The burlap background is a piece of one of the seed bags.

These French Bulldogs – Bella and Boo – belong to a Lands’ End Creative Director. The dogs were photographed separately, so they’d look at the camera instead of each other, and the two shots were merged digitally. The polos were fetched from Lands’ End Kids.

This American Veterinary Medical Association cover began with a wet clay base. The stylist shopped for the bones at a local pet shop, size and color being her criteria. Each dog bone was pressed into a wet clay base. The shirt buttons? Cat treats.

The post QUESTION: What does it take to create a great catalog cover? ANSWER: Seeds. Dogs. Bones. Gravel. appeared first on The Lands' End Blog.