Skechers Performance Named Sports Footwear Brand of the Year

Mar 6, 2013 • 12:05 pm EST

MANHATTAN BEACH, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- SKECHERS USA, Inc. (NYSE:SKX) today announces that the Skechers Performance Division was named the Sports Footwear Brand of the Year at The Footwear Industry Awards in the United Kingdom. This achievement follows a year when Skechers Performance received eight awards from major international running and fitness publications recognizing its innovative footwear product.

The prestigious annual event, held on February 17, 2013 during the Moda Footwear Show, was organized by Datateam Business Media with support from industry players including British Footwear Association (BFA), Independent Footwear Retailers Association (IFRA), the Society of Shoe Fitters (SSF) and Footwear Today. The group recognizes excellence at every level and SKECHERS won over a strong competitive field that included Nike, Hi-Tec, Clarks and Vibram. SKECHERS was also an overall nominee for Men’s Footwear Brand of the Year.

“It’s always a great feeling to be recognized by our peers,” began Michael Greenberg, president of SKECHERS, “especially when the recognition comes for a challenging field and our steps into the performance world began in 2011 with the launch of the Skechers Performance Division. We’re extremely proud that our pioneering performance technology is being embraced by critics in the media, elite runners like Meb, and casual enthusiasts for the sport. We hope that as we leverage our innovations into a wider collection of performance product, more and more people around the globe will turn to SKECHERS for performance footwear built for running, walking, golfing, hiking and more.”

Skechers GOrun is a lightweight running line featuring revolutionary technology that promotes a midfoot strike and GOimpulse sensors for a responsive experience. Elite marathon runner Meb provides the Skechers Performance Division with ongoing expert insight by testing and consulting on the design of shoes like the all-new Skechers GOrun 2, the pro-level Skechers GOrun speed racing line, and other high-performance product currently in development. Plus, on the more casual side, Skechers GOwalk is the foundation for a collection of performance walking shoes and Skechers on-the-GO fuses performance technologies with iconic design and style.

In an effort to build the brand across the United Kingdom, Skechers Performance is the Official Footwear Sponsor of both the London and Blenheim triathlons and the Headline Sponsor of the Milton Keynes Marathon. In addition, Meb returns to competition at the upcoming New York City Half Marathon followed by the Boston Marathon in April, and the Skechers Performance Division continues to appear at marathon expos from New York to Paris to Tokyo.

Skechers Performance footwear for men and women is available in sporting goods, department and specialty athletic stores around the world. Learn more at skechersperformance.com and follow the Skechers Performance Division on Facebook (facebook.com/SkechersPerformance) and Twitter (twitter.com/skechersGO).

ABOUT SKECHERS USA, INC.

SKECHERS USA, Inc. (NYSE: SKX), based in Manhattan Beach, California, designs, develops and markets a diverse range of footwear for men, women and children under the SKECHERS name. SKECHERS footwear is available in the United States via department and specialty stores, Company-owned SKECHERS retail stores and its e-commerce website, and over 100 countries and territories through the Company’s global network of distributors and subsidiaries in Brazil, Canada, Chile, Japan, and across Europe, as well as through joint ventures in Asia. For more information, please visit www.skechers.com, and follow us on Facebook (www.facebook.com/SKECHERS) and Twitter (twitter.com/SKECHERSUSA).

This announcement may contain forward-looking statements that are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements include, without limitation, any statement that may predict, forecast, indicate or simply state future results, performance or achievements, and 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, 2012. 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.