ON MY OWN; DESIGNER CAROLINE DEBAERE HAS FOUND THE SECRET TO SERVICING A DIVERSE FREELANCE CLIENT ROSTER WITHOUT COMPROMISING EXCLUSIVITY.(Interview)

Footwear News, February, 2005 by Schneider-Levy, Barbara

Byline: Barbara Schneider-Levy

As an independent footwear designer, Caroline deBaere is accustomed to wearing many hats, not to mention shoes.

In 2000, she founded La Forma, a Menlo Park, Calif.-based design firm where she currently counts Ariat, Dunham, Keen and Sperry Top-Sider among her clients. But while these brands' signature looks range from performance-based to casual-driven, comfort always figures into deBaere's design equation. "It's become sort of a given," she said. "Advancements in technology over the past decades have made the possibilities endless with what can be done with materials, linings, footbeds, midsoles and outsoles. They enhance comfort and provide so many options we've never had before."

DeBaere graduated from...