 | |
| Company type | Subsidiary |
|---|---|
| Industry | Footwear |
| Founded | 1986 in Altoona, Pennsylvania |
| Founder |
|
| Headquarters | |
| Products | Skate shoes |
| Parent |
|
| Website | www |
Airwalk is a lifestyle brand known for making skateboarding shoes. Originally based in Altoona, Pennsylvania, during its heyday it was cited as one of the world's most influential brands. Originally a subsidiary of Items International, it was later sold to private equity firms. [1]
Airwalk was founded by George Yohn, the founder of shoe manufacturers Blair Co. and Items International, and Bill Mann, a shoe purchaser for Payless Shoes. After making unbranded shoes for department stores in the 1970s, Items International attempted to produce branded athletic shoes in the early 1980s. It designed technical shoes for jazzercise and step aerobics, but was too slow to gain a foothold in those markets. After talking with his son, Mann realized that there was an untapped market for skateboarding shoes, and that skateboarders did not want to wear the same shoes "[their] mom wore to her aerobics class". He learned that skateboarding wore out shoes differently than other sports and designed accordingly. Airwalk launched as a subsidiary of Items International in 1986. [2]
The brand gained widespread popularity for its most popular shoe – "The One" – in the mid 1990s. [3] [4] In his 2000 book The Tipping Point , Malcolm Gladwell cited Airwalk as the sixth most influential brand in the world during its heyday in the mid 1990s. [5] Airwalk was purchased by Collective Licensing International in 2004, which was subsequently purchased by Collective Brands. [6] Authentic Brands Group purchased assets from Collective Brands, including Airwalk, in 2014. [7]
Converse is an American lifestyle brand that markets, distributes, and licenses footwear, apparel, and accessories. Founded by Marquis Mills Converse in 1908 as the Converse Rubber Shoe Company in Malden, Massachusetts, it has been acquired by several companies before becoming a subsidiary of Nike, Inc. in 2003.
Adidas AG is a German athletic apparel and footwear corporation headquartered in Herzogenaurach, Bavaria, Germany. It is the largest sportswear manufacturer in Europe, and the second largest in the world, after Nike. It is the holding company for the Adidas Group, which also owns an 8.33% stake of the football club Bayern Munich, and Runtastic, an Austrian fitness technology company. Adidas's revenue for 2018 was listed at €21.915 billion.
Hip-hop fashion refers to the various styles of dress that originated from Urban Black America and inner city youth in cities like New York City, Atlanta, and Los Angeles. Being a major part of hip hop culture, it further developed in other cities across the United States, with each contributing different elements to the overall style that is now recognized worldwide.
Vans is an American apparel, accessories, and skateboarding shoes brand, established in Anaheim, California, and owned by VF Corporation. The company also sponsors surf, snowboarding, BMX, and motocross teams. From 1996 to 2019, the brand was the primary sponsor of the annual Warped Tour music festival.
Skate shoes or skateboard shoes are a type of footwear specifically designed and manufactured for use in skateboarding. While numerous non-skaters choose to wear skate shoes as they are popular in fashion, the design of the skate shoe includes many features designed especially for use in skateboarding, including a vulcanized rubber or polyurethane sole with minimal tread pattern or no pattern, a composition leather or suede upper, and reinforced stitching to extend the life of the upper material. The most important aspect of skate shoes is that they have flat soles which allow the skater to have better board control.
Payless ShoeSource Worldwide, LLC, is an American multinational discount footwear chain. Established in 1956 by cousins Louis and Shaol Pozez, Payless was a privately held company owned by Blum Capital, and Golden Gate Capital. In 1961, it became a public company as the Volume Shoe Corporation, which merged with The May Department Stores Company in 1979. In the 1980s, Payless was widely known in the U.S. for its Pro Wings line of discount sneakers, which often had Velcro straps instead of laces. In 1996, Payless became an independent publicly held company. In 2004, Payless announced it would exit the Parade chain and would close 100 Payless Shoe outlets. On August 17, 2007, the company acquired the Stride Rite Corporation and changed its name to Collective Brands, Inc. As of 2020, Payless is owned by a group of investors led by Alden Global Capital and Axar Capital Management.
Evans is a women's clothing retailer located in the United Kingdom and around the world. It sells plus-size clothing, lingerie, wide-fitting shoes, swimwear and accessories.
Billabong International Limited is an Australian company focused on surfing, primarily a clothing retailer that also produces accessories, such as watches and backpacks, and skateboard and snowboard products under other brand names. Founded in 1973 by Gordon and Rena Merchant, the company first traded on the Australian Securities Exchange in August 2000. The name "billabong" is derived from the Wiradjuri word bilabaŋ that refers to a "creek that runs only during the rainy season". As of September 2013, Von Zipper and Element were two of the prominent brands that Billabong owns. Honolua Surf Company, Kustom, Palmers Surf, Xcel, Tigerlily, Sector 9, and RVCA were the company's other brands. In 2018, Billabong International Limited was acquired by Boardriders, Inc, owner of rival brand Quiksilver.
Streetwear is a style of casual clothing which became global in the 1990s. It grew from New York hip hop fashion and Californian surf culture to encompass elements of sportswear, punk, skateboarding, 1980s nostalgia, and Japanese street fashion. Later, haute couture became an influence, and was in turn influenced by streetwear. Streetwear centers on comfortable clothing and accessories such as jeans, T-shirts, baseball caps, and sneakers. Brands may create exclusivity through artificial scarcity; enthusiasts follow particular brands and try to obtain limited edition releases, including via proxy purchases.
Soap was the brand name of shoes made for grinding, similar to aggressive inline skating. They were introduced by Chris Morris of Artemis Innovations Inc. with the brand name "Soap" in 1996. They have a plastic concavity in the sole, which allows the wearer to grind on objects such as pipes, handrails and stone ledges. The company and its product rapidly gained popularity through fan sites, a video game and live demonstrations. Soap fell to legal vulnerabilities and was sold twice, eventually bringing the brand to Heeling Sports Limited.
Fashion in the 1990s was defined by a return to minimalist fashion, in contrast to the more elaborate and flashy trends of the 1980s. One notable shift was the mainstream adoption of tattoos, body piercings aside from ear piercing and, to a much lesser extent, other forms of body modification such as branding.
Keds is an American brand known for its canvas shoes with rubber soles. Founded in 1916 by U.S. Rubber, its original shoe design was the first mass-marketed canvas-top sneaker. The brand was sold to Stride Rite in 1979, which was acquired by Wolverine World Wide in 2012. Since February 2023, Keds has been owned and operated by Designer Brands.
Sperry or Sperry Top-Sider is an American brand of boat shoe designed in 1935 by Paul A. Sperry. Sperrys, or Top-Siders, were the first boat shoes introduced into the boating and footwear markets. Until January 2024, the Sperry brand was owned by Wolverine World Wide and headquartered in Waltham, Massachusetts. It is currently owned by Authentic Brands Group, with the North America operations licensed to Aldo group.
The Rockport Group is an American shoe brand owned by Authentic Brands Group. Associated brands include Aravon, Dunham and Rockport, and the Rockport Cobb Hill Collection.
Florsheim Shoes is an American shoe brand. Founded in Chicago in 1892, it is now a subsidiary of Weyco Group, which is owned by members of the founding Florsheim family.
Vision Street Wear is an American clothing, skateboarding and BMX brand. Started in 1976 by Brad Dorfman, the company sponsored early skateboarding greats such as Mark 'Gator' Rogowski, and Mark Gonzales.
Reebok International Limited is an American footwear and clothing brand that is a part of Authentic Brands Group. It was established in England in 1958 as a companion company to J.W. Foster and Sons, a sporting goods company which had been founded in 1895 in Bolton, Lancashire. From 1958 until 1986, the brand featured the flag of the United Kingdom in its logo to signify the origins of the company. It was bought by German sporting goods company Adidas in 2005, then sold to the United States–based Authentic Brands Group in 2021. The company's global headquarters are located in Boston, Massachusetts, in the Seaport District.
Sneaker collecting is the acquisition and trading of sneakers as a hobby. It is often manifested by the use and collection of shoes made for particular sports, particularly basketball and skateboarding. A person involved in sneaker collecting is sometimes called a sneakerhead.
Nike, Inc. is an American athletic footwear and apparel corporation headquartered near Beaverton, Oregon, United States. It is the world's largest supplier of athletic shoes and apparel and a major manufacturer of sports equipment, with revenue in excess of US$46 billion in its fiscal year 2022.
