Actress Penélope Cruz has been named GEOX's first ever brand ambassador, the brand announced. Cruz is appearing in a worldwide advertising campaign for GEOX this year, with the campaign split into two phases — beginning with the launch of the women's Autumn-Winter 23-24 collection. A second GEOX campaign featuring Cruz will appear for the Spring-Summer 24 season.

Birkenstock has established the initial pricing of shares for its forthcoming IPO at $44.00 to $49.00. Based on the mid-point of that range, $46.50, the company will sell enough shares to gross nearly $500 million and selling shareholder L Catterton will offer an additional 21.5+ million shares that would gross about $1 billion at the midpoint of the expected stock price range. After the IPO, the private equity firm is forecast to retain control of the footwear company with ownership of 80 to 82 percent of the shares, which will trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the “BIRK” ticker.

OS1st, a leading brand of performance socks and compression bracing products in specialty independent retail, announced the appointment of Jennifer Hazard as Northwest regional sales manager. Hazard’s decades-long career in the athletic and retail industry includes her most recent time as director of sales for Fitted, Inc. She also owned and managed her own independent retail store for 23 years in Hailey, Idaho.

Running footwear brand Vimazi announced the creation of its Medical Advisory Board. The board will evaluate potential injury-prevention solutions, including making design recommendations to future Vimazi models. Board members include Simon Bartold, Bartold Clinical; Trevor Prior, Podiatric Surgeon; Kris Hartner, Owner of Naperville Running; Karen Langone, DPM, Sports Medicine Podiatrist; and Robert Conenello, DPM.

Zamberlan, the Italian boot brand, has tapped The Hammond Group to represent the brand in the Midwest region of the U.S. Based in Illinois, The Hammond Group will represent the Zamberlan brand in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota and Wisconsin. The Hammond Group represents many notable brands across the hunting, fishing and outdoor markets including Benchmade, Rapala, Fenix and more.