GIRL POWERED; SEYCHELLES SHOE AND BC FOOTWEAR'S ALBY SILVERA SPEAKS OUT ABOUT THE IMPOSSIBLE PACE OF FASHION, BEING ANTI-MAJORS AND WHY IT'S HARD TO SOURCE CHIC SHOES.(Interview)

Footwear News, February, 2006 by Baran, Michelle

Byline: Michelle Baran

It's a great time to be at the helm of Seychelles Shoe and BC Footwear. According to brand head Alby Silvera, 42, supplying affordable, fashionable footwear with a unique design aesthetic that matches his young female customer's "independent edge" at affordable prices has been a winning strategy. In fact, the formula helped overall sales explode by 300 percent in 2005.

But homing in on this free spirit - the girl who wants to stand out rather than fit in - took time. She was still relatively undiscovered when Silvera's father, Jack, CEO of El Segundo-based Dynasty Footwear, first purchased the women's sandal brand, which launched in 1984, from Michael Kaufman and Michael Katz in the mid-1990s.

In the late 1990s, Alby...