K-Swiss has always been a black sheep when it comes to sneaker brands, whether it was because they were seen as being cheap, or considered “not cool enough” for the sneakerhead and streetwear crowd. They’ve always teetered on the edge of hype respectability, like Fila and Lacoste (who both have their fill of boutique collaborations). And just like most of the sneaker companies we love, K-Swiss has been around for a long time, and their recent moves and projects demand we pay more attention than ever before.
K-Swiss has found some big winners in the streetwear world. They worked with influencer and human mood-board Lil Jupiterr on two separate collaborations that continue to sell over retail on StockX. This was definitely a new direction for K-Swiss. First, they used an uncommon silhouette with small tweaks from Jupiterr. With the second project, Jupiterr revised the CR-Terrati, adding futuristic color schemes, iridescent material, and an even chunkier sole than its predecessor. Space-age and interstellar vibes inspired the design, and it’s encouraging to see companies give young digital creatives a chance to create something entirely new with their brand.
Even more recently, K-Swiss partnered with up-and-coming Mexican-American men’s designer Willy Chavarria, who The Washington Post described as “producing some of the most socially engaging runway shows in New York.” The partnership culminated in a bright capsule collection, featuring the “No Human Being is Illegal” motto that has become Chavarria’s calling card. The collection is rounded out by a simple but effective Classic 2000 that opts for a White and Natural color scheme featuring exposed foam, topped off with punk-inspired studded eyelets.
K-Swiss also established a unique partnership with Entrepreneur/YouTuber/Motivator extraordinaire, Gary Vee. From the first release, until the most recent, Vee’s shoes have sold out in minutes. His ravenous fanbase almost instantly ate up every release. His shoes have shown to have strong secondary market power as well. Most of the releases still selling on StockX are available for above retail, with some going for as much as $100-150 over the original price.
What might be most impressive about K-Swiss though, has been their willingness to work with licensed entities as different as Angry Birds, to more common ones such as television and movies. While collaborations like these occasionally appear from each brand in the sneaker world, it seems that K-Swiss has really doubled down on this strategy, leading to collaborations that are just as much movie collectibles as they are a sneaker. K-Swiss is no stranger to movie collaborations, whether it be with the cult-classic Clueless, or a nostalgia-filled Ghostbusters capsule. The work they have put out in this past year proves that not all pop culture collaborations need to be a cut and paste of brand assets.
K-Swiss’ latest might be their sharpest. A few months ago, they released a collaboration with Breaking Bad featuring a Classic 2000 worked up in a neutral color, featuring the graphic from Jesse Pinkman’s RV adorning the uppers. It’s a simple, perfect reference for anyone who is a big fan of the show. These sold out quickly and have been trading over retail on StockX ever since. K-Swiss then revived this shoe for a 3-Pack including two other Classic 2000s that almost look like entirely new silhouettes.
For the 2 other sneakers in the collection, Breaking Bad and K-Swiss took some of the show’s most recognizable iconography, transforming it into shoe form. Yes, Breaking Bad fans, they went with the biohazard suits. They made a “Cooking” version in the infamous yellow and “Cleaning” in hazardous orange. For the uninitiated, “cooking” refers to the suits they wore while cooking the meth at the center of the show’s plot, while “cleaning” usually involved orange jumpsuits and the cleanup of messy, murderous situations that resulted from the meth. Everything from the proper material being used for the shroud on these shoes, to the small details like the zippers and back tabs being colored exactly like they were in the show, makes these sneakers a whole new breed in the world of licensing. Even some of the notoriously harsh Hypebeast commenters had to admit that the concept was extremely well-executed by K-Swiss and Breaking Bad.
Of course, every brand wants to sell as many shoes as they can, but sometimes being a smaller brand like K-Swiss makes it possible for them to be more agile and creative. Honestly, K-Swiss’s creativity and storytelling come from the fact that it is a smaller brand. Not only are they free from the insane minimum production amounts that brands like Nike and adidas have to hit at their factories, but K-Swiss also has the ability to laser-focus their team on collaborations. This allows them to create fully-developed and thought out collabs that engage with niche partners that larger brands ignore. K-Swiss doesn’t dominate the market like the larger brands, but that’s not the whole game. Sometimes being a smaller company means that the consumer actually gets a little more. So we’re not mad about it.
