Rant: K-Swiss

If you are about to read this, I will not be insulted if you walk away... Unless you are one of 5 Kswiss enthusiasts in the world and would like to firmly disagree with me, like hearing me complain about pointless stuff, or think i'm kinda funny, there's no reason to really be here. But if you are included in one or more of those categories please continue.

One of the "coolest" shoes of my childhood was "The Classic". It was California's tennis shoe. It was a shoe that had no label just like its diverse roots. From the trust funded preps to the crazy hood hoppers, everyone could rock a K-Swiss "The Classic". Frankly, I wore K-Swiss throughout middle school. The crisp white shoe would match anything and everything. The brand has been changing though. A while ago they took a really urban approach and did the "I Wear My K-Swiss Rap" that actually was pretty racially charged and filled with preppy californian's putting on fake "ghetto" accents.

Than they almost hit gold, they were just a little bit too early, and their target was a little bit too specific, and the thing they were sponsoring was a bit too difficult. They got into parkour/ free running... At the time, nobody really knew about free running and thought this was just a story about a stunt man doing tricks as he rushed to his Girlfriend's tennis match. Add that with the fact that, no shoe is going to ever make a fat kid feel like they can do flips and run fast... and you get the dismal failure of this K Swiss commercial.

After the bloody shambles of that parkour line finished, because my generation is just smarter than that, KSwiss produced, their best advertisements. The Kenny Powers series. They knew that i was around the time that my generation of kswiss wearing 90s kids grew up and knew they could not fly. They were trying to be edgy and to be honest, they were. Their Kenny Powers ad is actually pretty funny and their gimmicky "tubes concept" wasn't terrible. But lets be real here, I didn't laugh my way to the mall to buy some "tubes", Nike did gimmicky heels first, and the athletes they included weren't stellar/ barely recognizable(Rey Mysterio jr. is not included in the non-recognizable category).

And now, as you witness today, their attempt to "change the sports world" is failing. Now to the reason why I was inspired to go on this KSwiss rant. Yesterday I attended a focus group for KSwiss and their new line, "The Clean Classic" and I was surrounded by people who had no knowledge of the brand or fashion/shoes in general. And as a "shoe enthusiast" and someone who likes to know random stuff, I sat in that room and felt uncomfortable. See, the reason for a focus group is to get realistic commentary. What I'm saying is, you don't need to brown nose like its a job interview or like you may get more money if you sound the nicer than the other people. One person said, "they're edgy and nothing like i've seen from KSwiss before." But realistically it was the same KSwiss classic with a rubbery "fake leather" material instead of full grain leather. Another person said, "The red ones are really cute and I would totally wear them. I have never seen this color on a KSwiss shoe before!" However, it was once again a Kswiss classic with the same rubbery material, but it was red. And KSwiss has had a tendency to use classic american colors in every single line of their clothing and footwear. Those colors being: Red and Navy Blue. In a room full of people who seemed to be sold, I felt totally comfortable, speaking out and revealing the truth and history of the company. Im a tool, so i knew that all the shoes were the same things i've seen from Kswiss. I wasn't so mad at the shoes as i was the people i was working with.

There are no pictures of the new clean classic line... sorry!

HOWEVER, We were than told that they were collabing with J.Crew and my anger was gone. Their best decision of the day. They were going back to what they did best, creating a conservative, preppy, safe and (dare i say) Classic design. All the people around me felt so dumb... I walked out feeling like a champ for being right and  $135 richer!!!

I guess we'll see If i'm write about how they needed to push the california lifestyle more and to push the preppy thing a little harder. The line is going to be release in the summer(good decision working that beach angle!)


So what did i learn?
1. When people told important CEOs of big companies are watching you as you talk about their brand people tend to spew bullshit. Everywhere.

2. K Swiss has established a reputation of being a classic shoe. They tried to become edgy and failed numerous times.

3. I'm stuck up and should not have been in that focus group.

4. I dislike people that talk about stuff that they have no knowledge of.

5. Do focus groups its easy money. If you don't have a job, or even if you have a job focus groups are an easy way to make a quick dollar. I honestly was there for about two hours and I can confidently admit that, I had a better hourly rate than any job i've ever had.


Much Love,
BW