SKECHERS Named Footwear Brand of the Year and Fashion Brand of the Year at The Footwear Industry Awards
LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- SKECHERS USA, Inc. (NYSE:SKX) today announced that it has been named Footwear Brand of the Year and Fashion Footwear Brand of the Year at The Footwear Industry Awards. SKECHERS was also highly commended in the Sports Brand of the Year category. This achievement follows a year when SKECHERS won multiple top industry awards in the United States, including Company of the Year from both Footwear News and Footwear Plus.
“We are incredibly honored to have been recognized as Footwear Brand of the Year. This marks the first Footwear Industry Awards win for SKECHERS in the top category along with our second straight Fashion Brand of the Year win,” commented Peter Youell, Managing Director of SKECHERS UK and Ireland. “It’s a privilege to receive this recognition amongst such notable brands that were shortlisted in our categories. These awards are a testament to the strength of the SKECHERS brand in the UK and the ongoing support from our retail partners to reaffirm and elevate SKECHERS as a leading lifestyle and fashion footwear brand.”
“Awards like this illustrate how our brand and product are resonating with more consumers than ever before,” said David Weinberg, SKECHERS chief operating officer and chief financial officer. “In 2014, SKECHERS experienced over 50 percent year-over-year annual net sales growth within our UK subsidiary, where we shipped more than 2.7 million pairs and surpassed $100 million in sales through wholesale and Company-owned retail stores. We believe our success in the UK will continue thanks to our in-demand product and great retail partners. Building on this momentum, we expect our international sales to become 50 percent of our total business in the next 3 to 4 years.”
The prestigious annual awards event was held on Sunday, February 15, during the Moda Footwear Show and organized by Datateam Business Media with the support of the British Footwear Association (BFA), Independent Footwear Retailers Association (IFRA), The Society of Shoe Fitters and Footwear Today.
The Footwear Industry Awards recognize excellence at every level, and SKECHERS won over a strong competitive field that included Clarks, Rieker, Fly London and Gabor. SKECHERS’ previous Footwear Industry Awards honors include Fashion Brand of the Year and Sports Brand of the Year in 2014, and the Company was highly commended in the Comfort and Wellness category for 2014 as well.
SKECHERS offers two distinct footwear categories: a lifestyle division which offers comfort-focused trend-right product for men, women and kids including Relaxed Fit®, Skechers Memory Foam footwear and the philanthropic line BOBS from SKECHERS, and the Skechers Performance Division which includes Skechers GOrun and Skechers GOwalk footwear.
Celebrity product endorsees for SKECHERS' collections include legendary drummer Ringo Starr, multi-platinum recording artist Demi Lovato, as well as model and actress Kelly Brook. In addition, elite marathon champion and Boston Marathon winner Meb Keflezighi represents the Skechers Performance Division.
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 100 countries and territories worldwide via department and specialty stores, more than 1,000 SKECHERS retail stores, and the Company’s e-commerce website. The Company manages its international business through a network of global distributors, joint venture partners in Asia, and 12 wholly-owned subsidiaries in Brazil, Canada, Chile, Japan and throughout Europe. For more information, please visit skechers.com and follow us (facebook.com/SKECHERS) and Twitter (twitter.com/SKECHERSUSA).
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, the Company’s future growth, financial results and operations, its development of new products, future demand for its products and growth opportunities, its planned opening of new stores, advertising and marketing initiatives, and the expansion and automation plans for the Company’s European Distribution Center. 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, national and local general economic, political and market conditions including the ongoing global economic slowdown and market instability; entry into the highly competitive performance footwear market; 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; 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 the Company’s annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2013, and its Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2014. The risks included here are not exhaustive. The Company 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.
SKECHERS USA, Inc.
Jennifer Clay, 310-937-1326
Source: SKECHERS USA, Inc.
Released Feb 18, 2015 • 9:00 am EST