K-Swiss and Palladium sign UK distribution agreement with Unify Brand Partnerships

KSGB Europe has signed a new distribution agreement with Unify Brand Partnerships for its flagship footwear brands, K-Swiss and Palladium, in the UK.

From January 1, 2022, Unify Brand Partnerships, one of the leading active, outdoor and fashion distributors in the UK, will manage all business-to-business commercial and wholesale activities for both brands, as KSGB Europe looks to expand major distribution channels across the market.

Unify, which has a successful track record of elevating global brands in the UK, have been tasked with driving the presence of the heritage sneaker and boot brands, in what KSGB Europe’s calls a “crucial territory” for the fashion group, as part of an ongoing strategic rebrand for K-Swiss.

Jamel Khadir, vice president of marketing and sales for K-Swiss and Palladium, said in a statement: “Since Brexit, the conditions for doing business in the UK from France have become challenging, so this partnership with Unify comes as a natural move for our development in the market.

“Unify offers a very solid structure and diverse retail network, combined with an agile organisation, and we are confident this partnership can improve the level of services to our UK customers. We see a bright future in the market and are hopeful that K-Swiss and Palladium will benefit from a much wider sales presence as well as local marketing activities. Our partnership with Unify will give K-Swiss the opportunity to reset and follow its repositioning strategy.”

KSGB will continue driving e-commerce operations through palladiumboots.co.uk and kswiss.com alongside new outlets, maintaining the K-Swiss and Palladium brands both online and in physical locations.

Damian Cooper, managing director for Unify Brands Partnerships, added: “We are very excited to take on the UK distribution for both K-Swiss and Palladium. Both brands have a rich heritage and there couldn’t be a better time to partner with them to help drive their ambitions in the UK.

“We see a huge opportunity with the global repositioning and reset (US and EMEA) of K-Swiss and to give it focus, we are currently working on a new distribution strategy that will elevate the brand, in preparation for autumn/winter 2022 launch.”

To help drive the new distribution strategy, Unify has appointed Mubi Ali as UK brand manager to oversee the UK sales and marketing for K-Swiss. Ali joins Unify with over 17 years of experience in the sports and lifestyle industry, working across brands such as Nike and for retailers such as Sneakersnstuff and Pro:Direct.

In addition, Unify has named Andy Kay as UK lifestyle sales manager to lead the sales strategy across the business’ outdoor and lifestyle division. He joins Unify after five years at VF Corp as senior manager of strategic accounts for Vans, following seven years at Nike holding various commercial and sales roles across EMEA.