K-Swiss, Inc. is an American athletic shoe brand based in Glendale, California, founded in 1966.
History
K-Swiss was founded in 1966 in Los Angeles by Swiss brothers Art and Ernie Brunner. They became interested in tennis after emigrating to the United States. They imported leather tennis shoes from the Swiss shoe manufacturer Kuenzli. K-Swiss is the pairing of "K" in Kuenzli and "Swiss".[1][2]
K-Swiss purchased the majority stake of Australian brand Royal Elastics in 2001.[3] It sold Royal Elastics to a management-led investment group in 2009, recording a gain of $1.4 million in the second quarter.[4]