Issue link: https://viewer.e-digitaledition.com/i/1313791
T ennis champion and entrepreneur Venus Williams is partnering with K-Swiss as a brand ambassador. The seven-time Grand Slam singles champion and four-time Olympic Gold Medalist will represent K-Swiss and appear in a global brand campaign, "Club K-Swiss." Williams is also designing a limited-edition footwear and apparel collection with K-Swiss in partnership with her fashion-forward activewear and lifestyle brand EleVen by Venus Williams. The K-Swiss x EleVen by Venus Williams limited edition cap- sule collection includes K-Swiss Classic 66 X EleVen by Venus Williams-footwear for $120 as well as apparel pieces that range in price from $68 for a top to $298 for a varsity jacket. —Cara Griffin I s Supreme footwear on the horizon? Timberland and Vans parent VF Corp. is acquiring Supreme, the premium streetwear brand, known for its disruptive, digitally-led and weekly drop-focused business model, for $2.1 billion by year-end. Current investors The Carlyle Group and Goode Partners are selling their respective stakes in Supreme. Founder James Jebbia and the Supreme senior executive team will remain in New York City on the company's board under VF ownership. Founded on Lafayette Street in New York City in 1994, Supreme currently operates 12 retail doors worldwide and generates more than 60 percent of its overall revenues from digital channels. Slightly more than half of the brand's revenues come from the U.S. and nearly 75 percent of total sales are currently generated by apparel. Given its expertise in footwear and recent product collaborations between The North Face and Vans and Supreme, VF will likely help develop a footwear business for the brand. For the year ending in January 2021, Supreme is projected to report more than $500 million in global sales, up from less than $200 million four fiscal years ago. And projected further growth in digital, international markets, new and existing stores are seen as fueling a sustainable 8-10 percent growth rate for Supreme going forward to an eventual $1 billion top line. —Bob McGee Tennis legend Venus Williams is partnering with K-Swiss. VF-owned The North Face and Supreme have collaborated in the past. K-Swiss + Venus VF Goes Supreme COLLAB ACQUISITION THE FOOTWEAR EYE 6 • Footwear Insight ~ December 2020 footwearinsight.com