K-Swiss Hits an Ace With Its Company Comeback
Since 1966, K-Swiss has gained widespread popularity with the creation of its all-leather tennis shoe, the K-Swiss Classic. The California-based sneaker company has become a major legacy of the sport, with wearers including seven-time Grand Slam winner, Venus Williams who partnered with the brand in 2021.
K-Swiss was bought by Chinese sporting goods manufacturer Xtep in 2019, a major catalyst in the company’s foothold in the China market. The brand has opened 60 mono-brand stores with a fast-to-market product creation pipeline. Another key component was bringing back veteran K-Swiss executive, Barney Waters.
Notably, the company has cemented its place within the sneaker market by innovating and expanding its consumer reach. K-Swiss has expanded in the pickleball market, partnered with McLaren’s Formula 1 team and will launch the K-Swiss Racquet Club in the spring — a capsule of premium products and collaborations to select retailers globally.
Here, Waters, brand president of K-Swiss, sat down with Fairchild Studio to discuss the brand’s heritage and leadership in the tennis space, upcoming new product unveiling and more.
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Fairchild Studio: Why do you think K-Swiss’ heritage and its foothold in the American tennis space has stood the test of time?
Barney Waters: The benefit to being a specialist over a generalist is it gives us a laser focus on tennis performance and lifestyle 24/7, 365. This allows us to get closer to the end customer — and to concentrate our resources. Heritage is really about trust and you can’t just create it. It has to be earned over decades.
Fairchild Studio: How has the company homed in on its leadership in the tennis space, which has seen a resurgence of interest?
B.W.: While some abandoned the tennis specialty channel, we continue to show up. This has made us the number-one selling tennis brand in that channel, according to the Tennis Industry Association. We’ve continued to innovate and push the sport forward.
In spring, we’ll introduce the 4th iteration of our Ultrashot franchise, with a carbon fiber winglet for energy return during the cutting movements in tennis.
Our tennis business has seen strong growth and has become a much more significant portion of our business. Pickleball has been a big boost; we were early in creating pickleball-specific products. Tennis has always been the north star of K-Swiss and its contribution to our business is stronger than ever.
Fairchild Studio: How has K-Swiss merged its heritage with its capacity to innovate — and how did the brand apply this when expanding in the lifestyle market?
B.W.: Heritage translates to trust, but you also have to answer the question: ‘What have you done for me lately?’ We’re introducing and incubating performance technologies in tennis that can be taken down into lifestyle in future seasons, allowing us to modernize classics. We often inject heritage references into new performance products as a nod to our history and experience.
The K-Swiss Classic has been an icon since 1966. It started as a performance tennis shoe and became a lifestyle product over time. It’s a shoe connected to nostalgia and memories. Those connections are hard to remove once established — those positive brand associations have provided a foundation for our lifestyle business.
Fairchild Studio: What is K-Swiss’ brand trajectory as it continues to expand within the Chinese market?
B.W.: Xtep has launched the brand in China and is opening mono-brand stores rapidly in the main China markets and gateway cities across Asia. We already have 60 stores in premium locations, fueling growth and creating a halo effect of brand energy around the world.
Fairchild Studio: How do you see the retail expansion in 60 China stores aiding the brand’s resurgence?
B.W.: The biggest effect is the expansion of product design and development. To keep the stores supplied with newness, the team had to create a fast-to-market product creation engine. This has benefited us in a major way by leveraging those resources and getting access to product innovation. Xtep makes 50 million pairs of shoes per year across their brands and applying that sourcing power to K-Swiss has been a massive help.
Fairchild Studio: Why did K-Swiss decide to become a multiyear partner with McLaren’s Formula 1 team?
B.W.: It’s no secret that Formula 1 is experiencing huge growth in audience and attention. McLaren is the team on the rise, with very dynamic young drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri and the compelling papaya color. It’s an ideal choice of partner in a sport known for speed, technology and innovation — all desirable traits for a sports brand. Our Aero Active collaboration is a good example.
Fairchild Studio: What new products is K-Swiss unveiling in the upcoming months?
B.W.: The reengineered Si-18 International was Footwear News’ ‘Shoe of the Year’ in 1992 and was a performance tennis shoe. We’re keeping that shoe for top-tier retailers and releasing the Si-18 Rival for wider release.
For spring, we’re launching the Melrose Tubes Lite, an evolution of the Tubes franchise, with visible cushioning technology and a highly competitive product at $80 MSRP. This is a great example of the price/value equation we’re now able to deliver.
Lastly, we have a limited collaboration with OGR, who use cutting-edge industrial design techniques to create 3-D aesthetics. They have created their interpretation of our ST329 franchise product.
