MANHATTAN BEACH, Calif. -- (Business Wire)
Following strong demand after launching in Asia, SKECHERS
USA, Inc. (NYSE:SKX) is extending its anime collaboration to the
United States and Canada with the launch of Skechers X One Piece.
The colorful collection unites Toei Animation Inc’s popular anime series
with Skechers D’Lites, one of the footwear company’s original styles.
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Skechers launches limited edition One Piece collection in the United States and Canada (Photo: Business Wire)
“Pairing the iconic long-running anime series One Piece with one
of our top heritage styles resonated with our consumers in South Korea
and China who have been driving trends for the past few years,” began
Michael Greenberg, president of Skechers. “And now fashion moves at
light speed, so as influencers around the world had already been
embracing Skechers D’lites and the chunky sneaker trend, we started to
see style purveyors—from Hypebae, Hypebeast, GQ,
and High Snobiety—covering Skechers X One Piece
collaboration as a must have fashion style. We knew it was time to
introduce the collaboration to the United States and Canada—and fast,
and we’re glad it is with Toei Animation, the pioneers of Japanese
animation.”
“As one of the most respected footwear brands in the world, we’re
excited to partner with Skechers in launching this exciting fashion
initiative in the United States and Canada,” said Masayuki Endo,
President of Toei Animation Inc. “Skechers D’Lites embrace the energy
and enthusiasm of our fans, who like One Piece’s Straw Hat
Pirates, are always on the move looking for life’s next adventure. We
are confident that this collaboration will yield long-lasting success
for both Toei Animation Inc.’s and Skechers’ merchandising efforts.”
Previously exclusive to the South Korean and China markets, the
collection will be imported in six different colorways, each embracing a
unique One Piece character: Luffy, Chopper, Sanji, Zoro, Law, and
Doflamingo. The footwear will initially be available beginning July 2018
at Skechers retail stores, www.skechers.com
and select specialty stores.
Eiichiro Oda’s One Piece is the best-selling manga in history
with more than 430 million copies worldwide. In 1997, it spawned an
acclaimed anime series that has produced 890+ episodes. Following the
adventures of Monkey D. Luffy and his fearless Straw Hat Pirates, fans
are taken on a fantastical journey across a world teeming with wonders
and imagination. A multi-generational property, it continues to
captivate viewers both young and old. The story and its characters have
also expanded across other media into film, television, and video/mobile
game as well as theme park in Japan.
Skechers pioneered the chunky sneaker look two decades ago with the
Skechers Energy for men and women as well as the Skechers Stamina for
men. The style evolved and the Company introduced Skechers D’Lites—a
lighter version of its original style—in 2007. Though the collection has
always had a dedicated consumer base, sales accelerated across Asia over
the last two years after regional marketing included K-Pop groups. In
2017, the Company relaunched an even lighter update of Skechers D’Lites
in celebration of its ten-year anniversary.
About SKECHERS USA, Inc.
SKECHERS USA, Inc., based in Manhattan Beach, California, designs,
develops and markets a diverse range of lifestyle footwear for men,
women and children, as well as performance footwear for men and women.
SKECHERS footwear is available in the United States and over 160
countries and territories worldwide via department and specialty stores,
2,570 SKECHERS Company-owned and third-party-owned retail stores, and
the Company’s e-commerce websites. The Company manages its international
business through a network of global distributors, joint venture
partners in Asia and the Middle East, and wholly-owned subsidiaries in
Canada, Japan, throughout Europe and Latin America. For more
information, please visit skechers.com and follow us on Facebook
(facebook.com/SKECHERS) and Twitter (twitter.com/SKECHERSUSA).
About Toei Animation, Inc.
Based in Los Angeles, Toei Animation Inc. manages the film distribution
of Toei’s top properties, including Dragon Ball all series, Sailor Moon,
One Piece, Digimon series, Saint Seiya, and many others to North
America, Latin America, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand. Toei
Animation’s Los Angeles office further handles all categories of
consumer product licensing based on its film and television brands
within these territories. For more information, please visit http://www.toei-animation-usa.com/.
This announcement contains forward-looking statements that are made
pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities
Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements include,
without limitation, Skechers’ future domestic and international growth,
financial results and operations including expected net sales and
earnings, its development of new products, future demand for its
products, its planned domestic and international expansion, opening of
new stores and additional expenditures, and advertising and marketing
initiatives. Forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of
forward-looking language such as “believe,” “anticipate,” “expect,”
“estimate,” “intend,” “plan,” “project,” “will be,” “will continue,”
“will result,” “could,” “may,” “might,” or any variations of such words
with similar meanings. Any such statements are subject to risks and
uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from
those projected in forward-looking statements. Factors that might cause
or contribute to such differences include international economic,
political and market conditions including the challenging consumer
retail markets in the United States; sustaining, managing and
forecasting costs and proper inventory levels; losing any significant
customers; decreased demand by industry retailers and cancellation of
order commitments due to the lack of popularity of particular designs
and/or categories of products; maintaining brand image and intense
competition among sellers of footwear for consumers, especially in the
highly competitive performance footwear market; anticipating,
identifying, interpreting or forecasting changes in fashion trends,
consumer demand for the products and the various market factors
described above; sales levels during the spring, back-to-school and
holiday selling seasons; and other factors referenced or incorporated by
reference in Skechers’ annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended
December 31, 2017. The risks included here are not exhaustive. Skechers
operates in a very competitive and rapidly changing environment. New
risks emerge from time to time and the companies cannot predict all such
risk factors, nor can the companies assess the impact of all such risk
factors on their respective businesses or the extent to which any
factor, or combination of factors, may cause actual results to differ
materially from those contained in any forward-looking statements. Given
these risks and uncertainties, you should not place undue reliance on
forward-looking statements as a prediction of actual results. Moreover,
reported results should not be considered an indication of future
performance.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180326005792/en/
Contacts:
SKECHERS USA
Jennifer Clay
(310) 937-1326
jennc@skechers.com
or
SSA
Public Relations
David Syatt
(818) 222-4000
david@ssapr.com
Source: SKECHERS USA, Inc.
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