When Shawn and Shane Ward were playing football and running track during high school in Detroit, they never envisioned ending up in the fashion biz.
Automotive engineering and design careers seemed more likely for the twins. That’s where both were headed upon graduating from the University of Michigan in 1996.
Today, they’re entrepreneurs with a following. The Wards run a growing New York-based company, designing and selling hip and comfy shoes for women and men.
“It’s for customers who are fashion-conscious, who want really comfortable shoes, but want to be stylish at the same time,” says Shawn Ward, 33, the younger by five minutes of the identical twins.
Last month, they unveiled their spring 2006 “Detny by Shane & Shawn” line at Nordstrom in Detroit.
The fact that women have been known to flock to some of their events doesn’t exactly hurt sales. Detny is as much about the dashing duo – two good-looking, single entrepreneurs who travel internationally and mug with celebs and fans on their MySpace website – as it is about cool shoes.
Fergie from the Black Eyed Peas wears Detnys, as does Reuben Droughns (running back for the Cleveland Browns and an investor in the company), rap mogul Diddy and actor/singer Jamie Foxx.
The seeds for Detny were planted just before their college graduation. A friend at Adidas asked Shane to interview at the company’s Oregon headquarters. “I wasn’t really interested in moving to Portland, but I thought I’d go out there for the free trip,” Shane admits.
In the meantime, Shawn Ward was stepping up the corporate ladder as a Chrysler product engineer. But his entrepreneurial instinct was strong.
Eventually the twins made New York home.
“When the market would close at 4 p.m., Shane was still designing shoes all night,” Shawn remembers. “We pretty much took Shane’s design skills and mine from engineering and finance to create a proper company.”
The Wards noticed a lack of fashionable, but comfortable, women’s shoes being worn on the streets of New York. They introduced their first collection of women’s footwear in 2003 – featuring funky, updated Mary Jane styles with athletic soles.
Overall, Detny designs have a sporty, urban feel. Their spring collection features everything from athletic-inspired heels in bright color combinations to gold and silver stilettos with tiny rhinestone details. Their men’s line also combines dressy-to-traditional shoes with sporty accents and comfortable insoles.
Currently, the Detny collection sells for $125 to $150 at Nordstrom.
This fall, Detny shoes will also be available from the online shoe retailer Zappos (zappos.com).
