Greg Lutzka and K-Swiss

[skategeezer]

YouTube - Greg Slutzka on K-Swiss

interesting comments

[TIMORNE]

Dam work computer blocks youtube,what do they expect up to do..............
.....Work?

[Jesse Dishno]

those shoes look sick. I gotta get some of those when i see some out there =]

[skategeezer]

I am blogging about this now...
stand by

[skategeezer]

from my blog...

We have a team jumper!
Falling so close the announcement of Koston moving to Nike, it stands to reason that we'd be hit with another major shoe sponsorship shake up.
Former Globe pro Greg Lutzka now riding for K-Swiss. I know what you're thinking...what a brilliant move...after all, K-Swiss, I mean...K Swiss...but don't take my word for it: listen to what Greg says in the youtube video

"A company over 40 years in business making one of the most iconic shoes in footwear history...a brand known for quality and innovation and now we're making skate shoes. IT'S ON."

Wow, I can HARDLY wait...just what the world needs: more footwear companies entering the skate shoe market."

What would have I have loved to have seen happen?
If K-Swiss have all these technological ideas about dealing with abrasive tennis courts and they are applying them to skateboarding, why didn't they do this years ago? Why didn't they share this amazing knowledge and come out with a skateboard program?
I am sure Greg is getting a handsome paycheck from K-Swiss. I am also sure the guys in marketing and design will do a bang up job creating his ultimate skateshoe.
Then again, wouldn't have been easier just to use one of their current sponsored athletes for the skate program? You know, like give Anna Kournikova her own skate shoe?
PS - as these things happen in threes, I am waiting for Danny Way to leave DC and starting riding for Reebok.

[msk]

I'm not too surprised. K-Swiss has recently been branching out into new markets. They just recently did the same thing with triathlon: Hired some of the biggest names, and put out some serious shoes.

This is from an interview with Erik Vervloet (Director of Sports Marketing for K-Swiss) from about a year and half ago, and while he was specifically referring to triathlon, I'm guessing that this is the same reason they've made the move to skating:

" K-Swiss has been known as a tennis brand, with an alternate market as an urban apparel brand. How did you decide to move into the multisport world?

K-Swiss was, is and will always be a world class tennis brand. The urban lifestyle brand that they became known for was secondary. It almost happened by chance when Ice T (famous rapper) wore a thick version of our original classic shoe on the Arsenio Hall show in 1995 and suddenly we became the shoe of choice to wear with your baggy jeans. Through that time we never stopped innovating in tennis, in fact that same year our Si18 tennis shoe was awarded the shoe of the year by tennis magazine.

Fast forward to 2007 and K-Swiss is a 500 million dollar global brand with a waning lifestyle business in the US and at a crossroads as to where the brand should go. Pursue that very trend-conscious urban market or return to its heritage of premium sport and classic style. The one challenge was that tennis was too small of a performance category to maintain our brand's growth globally so we really needed to expand our category range... "

[rawls]

I haven't a clue who Greg Lutzka is. Shoes are shoes, if the quality and performance are there (regardless of the branding) then go for it. I dont understand why we are so compelled that some pro speaks for a shoe. Mallboarders can fall for that as a basis for their purchase, I wont.

[PeterWeinrauch]

Then again, wouldn't have been easier just to use one of their current sponsored athletes for the skate program? You know, like give Anna Kournikova her own skate shoe?
PS - as these things happen in threes, I am waiting for Danny Way to leave DC and starting riding for Reebok.

You aren't being serious are you? About the part on why they didn't use one of their current athletes? The Anna thing makes it seem like a joke, but the first sentence seems like you are serious...

Next... No one is going to leave DC... DC would actually try and cross over to the "shoes other than skate shoes market" (they already do) before they let one of their top people fly out the door for some other reputable company... It could happen though... maybe... Either way... these things aren't much worth writing about... most people understand, (without hearing it from someone else) loyalty goes WAAAY far out the window when you start talking about a name brand that is stocked in places that aren't affected as much by this beaten economy as others.

Oh and PS:

YouTube - K-Swiss Free Running Spring Summer 2008

wait till this commercial has Lutzka skating next to this guy going over all of those obstacles.

PPS: Anna K. isn't doing so great with tennis.... oh wait... she doesn't compete anymore in any of the major titles.

PPPS: Discount rack at any store for shoes.

[skategeezer]

Peter,

I like to mix it up...tongue in cheek, throwing a spanner the works...raising a bit of hell
you know, not giving all these johnny come lately's a free pass...like most of the industry seems to do nowadays...

don't bring parkour into the mix...please...I beg you!

the fact is Peter, is that the shoe business RULES

they make the rules
they pay the biggest amount to the skate media...
and therefore, they make the rules

for purely selfish reasons I would have loved for Reebok to sign Scoot Smith or Delua...

[Wells]

Marketing videos are awesome! Let's all talk about K-Swiss now.

[PeterWeinrauch]

Peter,
I like to mix it up...

I hear you, and I like that.

Shoe market is king, I hear you on that too. Shoe companies assemble the best skaters, produce the best videos, and are the foundation for the skateboarding industry, besides manufacturing.

[endzone_bob]

Shoe companies assemble the best skaters, produce the best videos, and are the foundation for the skateboarding industry, besides manufacturing.

Whoa, whoa, whoa.

"[...] are the foundation of the skateboarding industry"?

I beg to differ.

Yes, in terms of gross profits right now, I reckon skate shoes are pulling in crazy money, when soccer moms are rocking DCs...but the phrase "[shoe companies] are a great deal of what's wrong with the skateboarding industry" could be substituted in there just as easily to aptly describe the major players in the skate shoe market.

When skating is no longer trendy and the money in softgoods has dried up, there will still be people skating. The companies that support these skates strike me as much closer to the "foundation" of the skateboarding industry.

[PeterWeinrauch]

Whoa, whoa, whoa.
When skating is no longer trendy and the money in softgoods has dried up, there will still be people skating. The companies that support these skates strike me as much closer to the "foundation" of the skateboarding industry.

I didn't really understand that part... can't really make an intelligent response right now...

Shoe companies that really appeal to the skating industry support their sponsored athletes well. The media and product they produce serves a purpose, it's all made to keep the industry alive and interested in SKATING. That, to me, is the foundation of skating my friend.

[Anton Milioti]

is K-Swiss the ultimate downhiller made from the DNA of Kevin Reimer and Pat Switzer?

[Arcadium]

these shoes look sick, not too
big and bulky or thin and wimpy, what i need

[Wells]

is K-Swiss the ultimate downhiller made from the DNA of Kevin Reimer and Pat Switzer?

/thread.

Mantron wins at the internet.

[Daniel M.]

/thread.

Mantron wins at the internet.

How much are they? I hope expensive.

[Bombsquad_Manny]

....Why?

Shoes....

ahhh forget it.

K-Swiss soles died on me in 2 months from just walking back in middle school.

[spaceghost0]

Now wankstas can have a skate shoe as ugly as the other shoes they already own.

[Arcadium]

sorry about the thread clutter but can anyone link me back to that thread talking about a shoe for longboarders, or did that whole deal go sour? i've searched for it...

also why da hate on KSWISS