K-Swiss facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
K-Swiss

Type	Subsidiary
Industry	Sportswear, footwear
Founded	1966; 59 years ago (1966)
Founders	Art Brunner Ernie Brunner
Headquarters	Los Angeles, California , U.S.
Area served	Worldwide
Products	Footwear, sportswear
Parent	Xtep

K-Swiss, Inc. is an American brand that makes athletic shoes. It is based in Downtown Los Angeles, California. The company started in 1966. Today, a Chinese sports company called Xtep owns K-Swiss.

History of K-Swiss

K-Swiss Tubes running shoes are designed for comfort.

K-Swiss was started in 1966 by two brothers, Art and Ernie Brunner. They were from Switzerland and moved to Los Angeles. The brothers loved tennis and wanted to create great tennis shoes.

They got the idea for K-Swiss from a Swiss shoe maker named Kuenzli. The "K" in K-Swiss comes from Kuenzli. The "Swiss" part comes from their home country.

Changes in Ownership

Over the years, K-Swiss has been owned by different companies. In 2001, K-Swiss bought most of an Australian brand called Royal Elastics. Later, in 2009, they sold Royal Elastics.

In 2013, a Korean company named E-Land World Limited bought K-Swiss. This helped K-Swiss grow. They also moved their main office to Downtown Los Angeles in 2016.

Then, in 2019, a Chinese company called Xtep International Holdings Limited bought K-Swiss from E-Land. Xtep is a big company that makes sports equipment.

K-Swiss Marketing and Ads

K-Swiss works with professional tennis players like Liudmila Samsonova and Cameron Norrie.

K-Swiss uses different ways to tell people about their shoes. In the 1990s, they spent more money on advertising. They hired creative people to make ads.

One famous ad campaign was called "I Wear My K-Swiss." It showed young people wearing K-Swiss shoes. They used both print ads and TV commercials.

Famous Faces and Campaigns

In 2007, tennis star Anna Kournikova was in K-Swiss ads. In 2011, a funny ad featured Danny McBride as his character Kenny Powers.

K-Swiss also changed its logo in 2014. The new design looked back to the company's tennis roots from 1966. They even sponsored events like Ireland's first sneaker convention.

Shoes for Entrepreneurs

In 2016, K-Swiss decided to focus on making shoes for "entrepreneurs." These are people who start their own businesses. They worked with famous entrepreneurs like Gary Vaynerchuk in 2017.

They also teamed up with other business leaders like Karen Civil and Ben Baller. This marketing idea helped K-Swiss connect with young, ambitious people. In 2019, K-Swiss even made special shoes inspired by the TV show Breaking Bad.

See also

In Spanish: K-Swiss para niños