Airwalk
| Airwalk
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|---|---|
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| legal form | Subsidiary of Collective Brands |
| founding | 1986 |
| Seat | Denver, Colorado, USA |
| Website | www.airwalk.com |
Airwalk is a Denver , Colorado- based company founded in 1986 that originally produced shoes for board sports such as board sports. B. Manufactures surfing and skateboarding .
history
The company was founded in 1986 by Bill Mann and George Yohn with the aim of primarily producing skate shoes and improving their quality. This made the company a leader in the skateboarding industry in the late 1980s and early 1990s, sponsoring famous skateboard professionals such as B. Jason Lee and Tony Hawk . In addition to shoes, articles such as T-shirts, sweatshirts , rucksacks , caps, etc. were also sold.
In the mid-90s, Bill Mann left the company. Airwalk changed its image after a change in management and now also produced "normal" sports shoes and snowboard boots . The shoes were now offered at major shoe discounters in the USA. For several years now, the company has been concentrating mainly on the production of shoes for skateboarders.
developments
Significant developments at Airwalk include the introduction of the Ollie pad; a plastic-reinforced part on the instep down to the sole to increase the lifespan of the shoe when performing the ollie (jump with the skateboard), as with this technique the leading foot is pulled over the griptape (rough surface on the skateboard) and thus the material of a normal shoe wears out quickly. Airwalk also introduced the so-called Lace Saver (shoelace protector). This is a strap made of leather that could be folded over the shoelaces using Velcro to protect them from wear and tear when doing various tricks.
Worth mentioning
- The company flourished in the late 1980s with the Fahrenheit series. Different models had different Fahrenheit designations such as B. "540 F". They differed in color and equipment.
- The next “hit” from Airwalk was the ONE model, which was one of the first to pick up on the low-top trend of the early 1990s and became one of the most popular shoes of the time
- The cult model and to this day one of the most popular models was and is the Airwalk Vic Velcro, which is equipped with a strap with Velcro over the entire lacing. The variant in black suede has the most widespread use. In the 1990s, the "VIC" was also available in red and blue, and with versions that were issued again and again it was also offered in brown, white (smooth leather), camouflage or other patterns.
- The American punk rock band NOFX was sponsored by Airwalk in the early 90s with the Airwalk ONE model. Since NOFX disapproved of the sale of Airwalk, they gave up the sponsor and called their following album "So Long and thanks for all the shoes" (Goodbye and thanks for the shoes).