Supermodel Naomi Campbell is her gorgeous and seductive self in Sam Edelman’s Fall 2022 campaign, lensed by the legendary Steven Klein.

WWD touched base with Sam Edelman himself, on the need for making a strong statement in “today’s fast-paced digital world.” He also explains that his is an aspirational but affordable brand. It’s not often that one sees one of the world’s great supermodels posing in $150 shoes. But then . . . we do have the Zara effect . . . and AOC’s constant praise of Zara’s marketing, photography and design aesthetic that beats out many luxury brands.

“It’s been a difficult time in history with the pandemic,” Edelman said. “How do we sort of pull the whole thing together and really make a statement? Right now is the time for us really to scream the integrity of our brand. There’s nobody that talks today about the integrity of being a fashion icon better than Naomi Campbell.”

In his WWD convo, Edelman talks about the global positioning of Sam Edelman, which is more expansive that we understood.

Since 2019, Sam Edelman has opened 43 monobrand stores in China across 21 cities as part of a joint venture with Luen Thai Holdings. According to executives, the brand is experiencing strong growth overseas and is on target to finish the year with a fleet of more than 50 stores with plans to add additional units in 2023. St. Louis footwear company Caleres acquired Sam Edelman in 2010.