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After a few years away from the footwear category, Derek Lam 10 Crosby is getting back into shoes through a new collaboration with Frēda Salvador.

After connecting over LinkedIn and discovering their shared love of ballet flats, the two brands came together on two flat options that play with material and color contrast.

The collection, which launches Aug. 1 and is priced between $295 and $595, prominently showcases denim with a reimagined version of Frēda Salvador’s beloved Jada square-toe ballet flat and a Derek Lam trench coat accented by Frēda’s signature studs.

Also featured is a white leather ballet flat showcasing another signature of the footwear brand, a handwoven upper, which is associated with the Jada style. Both shoes feature a black contrasting trim and a burgundy leather footbed referencing Derek Lam’s fall 2025 collection.

Derek Lam 10 Crosby brand president Danielle Alalu, who joined the contemporary women’s label in July 2024, told FN that blindly reached out to Frēda Salvador’s brand president Rachel Wolff via LinkedIn to introduce the idea for a partnership. A longtime fan of the brand, she had noticed a diverse range of women in her office wearing the brand’s shoes.

“So I did a little bit of homework and research on the brand, and what I realized was that they are women-led and women-founded, which really resonates with our DNA,” Alalu said.

She jumped on the phone with Wolff and the two “hit it off.” She initially asked if Frēda Salvador would partner on the shoes for Derek Lam 10 Crosby’s New York Fashion Week presentation (its first NYFW appearance) and then proposed a full-on collaboration.

Frēda Salvador co-founder Megan Papay, who started the footwear brand alongside Cristina Palomo in 2012, said “it was a very easy yes” after Alalu reached out. Her company had never created a denim version of the Jada before, or any denim footwear, and the black-and-white design was an appealing new idea as well.

“So it felt super fresh and exciting,” Papay told FN. She also explained the importance of denim to the DNA of the brand, calling it a “design pillar.”

Alalu said of the material spotlight, “Since both brands are obsessed with the icons of American style, denim felt like the perfect material for the collaboration as a quintessential fabric of American life.”

Describing the synergy of the two brands, Papay said, “There’s a shared commitment for timeless, elevated essentials that don’t feel too precious. So I feel like we both approach design with longevity and intentionality in mind, but also it’s a little bit playful.”

Ballet-inspired shoes have become ultra trendy lately as all kinds of brands, from athletic to luxury, get in on hybrid looks — whether it’s super low-profile sneakers or soaring stilettos. But the traditional flat style itself is still going strong as well.

Papay said the Jada style provides “effortless, no-nonsense function” for women leading busy lives while also serving as “a timeless classic that lives in her closet for years and years.” She also explained that the ballet flat silhouette allows for creativity with color and material — “because they’re so understandable and kind of like uniform dressing, you can have a lot more fun with them.”

Quincy Davis, the Montauk-based surfer who was tapped to star in the campaign for the collection, will hosa party in celebration of the collaboration at Derek Lam 10 Crosby’s East Hampton location on Aug. 9. (Frēda Salvador, meanwhile, opened a Manhattan store in November and more recently a Los Angeles brick-and-mortar, expanding a retail presence which also includes the brand’s flagship San Fransisco store.)

“We really feel like Quincy personifies the collection with her effortless sense of personal style as an All American surfer and athlete, and that was really important to both the Frēda team and to us,” Alalu said.

Will Alalu take the brand back into footwear in a full-fledged way? Alalu said she maintains a “test and learn” perspective based on consumer response.

If and when we decide to explore [footwear] again as a full blown category, I would do it in a really curated way,” she said. “And [if we] know the ballet flat works, then maybe the next time we test out a sandal, and then it’s a boot — and really keep it focused — and more on the materials than anything.”