K-Swiss Names Andrew Richard VP of Lifestyle in Latest Move to Evolve Brand
K-Swiss has tapped footwear industry veteran Andrew Richard as its new VP of lifestyle.
In his new role, Richard will be tasked with leading lifestyle sales for the Americas region, including the wholesale sales team and K-Swiss distributors, according to the Los Angeles based shoe company. He will report to Barney Waters, who rejoined K-Swiss as its international brand president in November.
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“Andrew’s combination of sales, strategy, planning and merchandising makes him the perfect fit,” Waters said in a statement. “As we evolve the brand with a wider, and more premium assortment, his skillset and experience will be extremely valuable.”
Richard joins K-Swiss from FootBalance System, where, as VP/GM of North America, he and his team built and expanded the distribution of the company’s 3D foot scanning and custom insole technology.
Prior to FootBalance System, Richard held leadership roles across product merchandising, business planning and sales at many top athletic footwear companies. According to Richard’s LinkedIn profile, some of these roles include VP of North America commerce at Asics, global head of footwear merchandising at Puma Group, senior director of footwear merchandising for North America at Timberland, national sales director for better department stores at Reebok and strategic channel and key account executive at Nike. Richard got his start in the footwear industry at The Rockport Co. as an account executive in 1991, his LinkedIn stated.
“I’m delighted to join a brand with such a storied history, and so much future potential,” Andrew added. “Leaning on K-Swiss’ leadership in tennis to build a lifestyle business is a big opportunity.”
This is the latest move for the shoe company following Waters’ November return after leaving the company in 2021 to assume the president role at Garrett Leight California Optical. During his first stint at K-Swiss, Waters was the brand president from 2016-2021, and served as chief marketing officer from 2013-2016.
During Waters’ first tenure as brand president, China-based sportswear company Xtep International Holdings Ltd. completed its purchase of K-Swiss Global Brands from E-Land Footwear USA Holdings Inc. in August 2019.
Last month, Xtep International announced it bought out its 2019 joint venture it had with Wolverine Worldwide to operate Saucony and Merrell brands in China. As part of the $61 million deal, Xtep now owns 40 percent of Saucony’s intellectual property rights in China.
In August, Xtep International Holdings reported a 14.8 percent increase in revenue to 6.522 billion Chinese yen ($891.96 million) in the first half of 2023. That same month, Xtep gave a glimpse into the future of the company at an event dubbed the “World-Class Running Shoes of China Xtep.” According to the company, this strategy marks a “new chapter of innovation” for Xtep as it continues to focus on the running shoe category.
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