K-Swiss to drive brand in the EMEA region with a new team

K-Swiss, the only heritage American tennis brand, has announced that it has appointed a new team to drive the brand in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region.

The new EMEA leadership team, headed up by Jamel Khadir, vice-president marketing and sales KSGB EMEA, will be based out of Lyon, France, and will form part of K-Swiss’ “fast-paced and significant brand turnaround,” explained the company.

Joining Khadir in the team is Patrick Bredemeijer, director product and marketing, Hélène Claeys, product manager, Wanda Beguelin, brand marketing manager and Vincent Langlais, designer.

A focus for the new team will be to build on its current success within existing markets such as Germany, Netherlands and the UK, added K-Swiss, but to also use the new autumn/winter 2021 collection to launch in new markets such as France and the Nordics.

Khadir, said in a statement: “K-Swiss has a great story to tell, with nearly 55 years of heritage, the brand is ready to step out of the archives and reach its potential once again.

“I’m looking forward to working with the new team to help bring the brand back to prominence here in Europe - respecting our heritage American tennis routes, but modernising what we do to create cut-through in the competitive sneaker market.”

The autumn/winter 2021 collection will introduce a new premium, preppy court style offering, which K-Swiss states has been designed with the European market in mind. The premium collection features subtle leathers that are matched with classic K-Swiss DNA, such as five stripe branding, metal D-Rings and grand slam flags, designed with the “modern preppy consumer in mind”.

Key silhouettes will be the ‘Cannoncourt’ and ‘Slamcourt’ trainers, which combines brand heritage with comfort and style.

Images: courtesy of K-Swiss