Kickers
Encyclopedia
Kickers is a youth brand created in 1970 in France that produces a wide range of footwear
and clothing. Kickers was bought in 2007 by the Royer group.
. Interested by all the barefooted youngsters wearing jeans, he developed a new shoe concept which he believed to be more compatible with the blue-jean generation. The designer Jacques Chevallereau then created the first 'jean boot'. This new shoe was very different: the use of nubuck
; shapes that looked more like short boots than regular shoes; tough crepe soles made with natural rubber, eyelets, contrast stitching, panels and appliqués all obviously referencing denim
. The success was such that, within one season, Kickers production capacity grew from 300 to 12,000 pairs per month. Immediately successful in France, then Germany, by 1974, Kickers were selling in over 70 countries.
music scene. The Kick Hi then became popular in the rave
scene, first with acid house
and then later with trance music
. Many fans of the shoe came from diverse and contemporary musical backgrounds including UK garage
, RnB
, pop
and hip-hop.
, Jarvis Cocker
, Noel Gallagher
, Mike Skinner
, Arctic Monkeys
, Craig David
and Rodney P
.
Ian Brown
famously kicked off the trend by wearing a pair of Kick His to The Haçienda
as a cheeky retort to the strict 'no trainer policy'. The Stone Roses
wore them in their video for 'Fools Gold
'. A sheep sported a pair of Kick His on the cover of the 'Stepping Stone
' 12 single by The Farm
.
Kickers sponsored the Urban Music Awards
(UMA) 2007 and had an advertorial with NME
which ended in September 2007.
Footwear
Footwear consists of garments worn on the feet, for fashion, protection against the environment, and adornment. Being barefoot is commonly associated with poverty, but some cultures chose not to wear footwear at least in some situations....
and clothing. Kickers was bought in 2007 by the Royer group.
History
On the French scene in 1970, Daniel Raufast came across a poster advertising the musical HairHair (musical)
Hair: The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical is a rock musical with a book and lyrics by James Rado and Gerome Ragni and music by Galt MacDermot. A product of the hippie counter-culture and sexual revolution of the 1960s, several of its songs became anthems of the anti-Vietnam War peace movement...
. Interested by all the barefooted youngsters wearing jeans, he developed a new shoe concept which he believed to be more compatible with the blue-jean generation. The designer Jacques Chevallereau then created the first 'jean boot'. This new shoe was very different: the use of nubuck
Nubuck
Nubuck is top-grain cattle rawhide leather that has been sanded or buffed on the grain side, or outside, to give a slight nap of short protein fibers, producing a velvet-like surface. It is resistant to wear, and may be white or coloured....
; shapes that looked more like short boots than regular shoes; tough crepe soles made with natural rubber, eyelets, contrast stitching, panels and appliqués all obviously referencing denim
Denim
Denim is a rugged cotton twill textile, in which the weft passes under two or more warp threads. This produces the familiar diagonal ribbing identifiable on the reverse of the fabric, which distinguishes denim from cotton duck. Denim has been in American usage since the late 18th century...
. The success was such that, within one season, Kickers production capacity grew from 300 to 12,000 pairs per month. Immediately successful in France, then Germany, by 1974, Kickers were selling in over 70 countries.
United Kingdom
During 1980 Kickers shoes, become highly successful in Britain. So much so in some case, kids were queuing up till 10 o'clock at night waiting on delivery van, and when the delivery did arrived the stock would be gone in a flash. Many kids also collected the flower shape tag and did not believe there were real Kickers unless this tag was included.Music industry popularity
It was the late Eighties and early Nineties that Kickers really gained popularity when Kick His were heralded by icons on the ManchesterManchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
music scene. The Kick Hi then became popular in the rave
Rave
Rave, rave dance, and rave party are parties that originated mostly from acid house parties, which featured fast-paced electronic music and light shows. At these parties people dance and socialize to dance music played by disc jockeys and occasionally live performers...
scene, first with acid house
Acid house
Acid house is a sub-genre of house music that emphasizes a repetitive, hypnotic and trance-like style, often with samples or spoken lines rather than sung lyrics. Acid house's core electronic squelch sounds were developed around the mid-1980s, particularly by DJs from Chicago who experimented with...
and then later with trance music
Trance music
Trance is a genre of electronic dance music that developed in the 1990s.:251 It is generally characterized by a tempo of between 125 and 150 bpm,:252 repeating melodic synthesizer phrases, and a musical form that builds up and breaks down throughout a track...
. Many fans of the shoe came from diverse and contemporary musical backgrounds including UK garage
UK garage
UK garage is a genre of electronic dance music originating from the United Kingdom in the early-1990s. UK garage is a descendant of house music which originated in Chicago and New York, United States. UK garage usually features a distinctive syncopated 4/4 percussive rhythm with 'shuffling'...
, RnB
Rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues, often abbreviated to R&B, is a genre of popular African American music that originated in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking, jazz based music with a...
, pop
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
and hip-hop.
Popular culture
Over the years, Kickers has been associated with the music industry, including Ms Dynamite, So Solid CrewSo Solid Crew
So Solid Crew is an electronic and urban musical collective from South London, England, whose hits include "Oh No " and "21 Seconds", the latter reaching number one in the UK Singles Chart in August 2001. Another hit, "They Don't Know", reached number three in November 2001 and "Haters" got to...
, Jarvis Cocker
Jarvis Cocker
Jarvis Branson Cocker is an English musician and frontman for the band Pulp. Through his work with the band, Cocker became a figurehead of the Britpop movement of the mid-1990s. Following Pulp's hiatus Cocker has led a successful solo career...
, Noel Gallagher
Noel Gallagher
Noel Thomas David Gallagher is an English musician and singer-songwriter, formerly the lead guitarist, backing vocalist and principal songwriter of the English rock band Oasis. He is currently fronting his solo project, Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds.Raised in Burnage, Manchester with his...
, Mike Skinner
The Streets
The Streets were a British rap/garage project from Birmingham, United Kingdom, led by vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Mike Skinner and has included a myriad of other contributors most notably drummer Johnny Drum Machine, vocalist Kevin Mark Trail and the Italian-American beatmaker Leroy.The...
, Arctic Monkeys
Arctic Monkeys
Arctic Monkeys are an English indie rock band. Formed in 2002 in High Green, a suburb of Sheffield, the band currently consists of Alex Turner , Jamie Cook , Nick O'Malley and Matt Helders...
, Craig David
Craig David
Craig Ashley David is an English singer and songwriter. He has released five studio albums: Born to Do It, Slicker Than Your Average, The Story Goes..., Trust Me, Signed Sealed Delivered and a Greatest Hits album...
and Rodney P
Rodney P
Rodney P is an English MC who entered the UK hip hop scene in the 1980s. He started out as a member of the London Posse, one of the UK's first home grown hip hop acts who were highly influential in the development of the genre. Rodney P has had one of the longest and most respected careers in UK...
.
Ian Brown
Ian Brown
Ian George Brown is an English musician, best known as the lead singer of the alternative rock band The Stone Roses, which broke up in 1996 but are confirmed to reunite in 2012. Since the break-up of the Stone Roses he has pursued a solo career...
famously kicked off the trend by wearing a pair of Kick His to The Haçienda
The Haçienda
Fac 51 Haçienda was a nightclub and music venue in Manchester, England. It became most famous during the "Madchester" years of the late 1980s and early 1990s, during the 1990s it was labelled the most famous club in the world by Newsweek magazine...
as a cheeky retort to the strict 'no trainer policy'. The Stone Roses
The Stone Roses
The Stone Roses are an English alternative rock band formed in Manchester in 1983. They were one of the pioneering groups of the Madchester movement that was active during the late 1980s and early 1990s...
wore them in their video for 'Fools Gold
Fools Gold/What The World Is Waiting For
"Fools Gold"/"What the World Is Waiting For" is a non-album double A-side by The Stone Roses. It was released in the UK, U.S., Mexico, Australia, Germany, Japan, and Spain. "Fools Gold" and "What the World Is Waiting For" are also available on the compilation Turns Into Stone...
'. A sheep sported a pair of Kick His on the cover of the 'Stepping Stone
Stepping Stone
"Stepping Stone" was the first single by Liverpool-based pop group The Farm. It was based upon The Monkees' 1966 song " Steppin' Stone". The single was released in April 1990, having been produced by Graham "Suggs" McPherson of Madness and Terry Farley...
' 12 single by The Farm
The Farm (band)
The Farm were a British band from Liverpool, popular through the early 1990s. Their album Spartacus reached the top position on the UK Albums Chart when it was released in March, 1991.-History:They formed in early 1983....
.
Kickers sponsored the Urban Music Awards
Urban Music Awards
The Urban Music Awards is a HipHop, R&B, Dance and soul music awards ceremony launched in 2003 and now held in six countries annually.The awards ceremony is held annually by Invincible Media Group. The UMA's is now held in 6 countries annually...
(UMA) 2007 and had an advertorial with NME
NME
The New Musical Express is a popular music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles...
which ended in September 2007.