British Knights Shoes

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  Men British Knights Footwear

British Knights a popular streetwear shoe brand. History of British Knights.

In 1980, New York-based Jack Schwartz Shoes Inc. founded shoe manufacturing company British Knights (or BKs). Although the name proves otherwise, the first collection was released in America in 1986 and in the United Kingdom three years later.

British Knights shoes are famous for its large tongue, stocky sole design, and the BK logo on the toe guard, upper part, and heel. In 1988, the brand endeared people with its funky “How ya like me now!” ad.

It became very popular during the early 90’s with hip hop communities in the US, UK, Europe, Canada and Australia. Its’ slogan “Get off on the right foot – get off on BKs” truly made sense. Because of its urban appeal, British Knights shoes were featured in hip hop and dance music videos by Technotronic, Public Enemy, and Beats International.

The people’s warm reception to the shoes upset major industry leaders Nike, Adidas, and Reebok because of its striking similarity with Troop and SPX shoes (apparently, the BK designers were actually making footwear for those companies.) A lot of BK shoes, specifically the “Director high” model, bears a striking resemblance to Troop footwear.

In the early 1990’s, British Knights broke ground by introducing the Dymacel, an enhancement feature incorporated in the shoes. This feature is a high-tech device, made of a diamond-shaped green silicon cushion embedded in the shoe’s sole window. Dymacel follows the same technology as that of Nike Air, Reebok Pump, and Puma Disc. It was first introduced in the European and Australian market. BKs with Dymacels came with a lenticular tag that can help the wearer hang the shoes through its laces. Like other shoe technologies during this time, a lot of people doubted the performance-enhancing capability Dymacel had to offer.

Because of its affinity to the hip hop culture, British Knights opted for urban endorsers rather than athletes. In fact, in 1991, BK’s ad “U Can’t Touch This” featured rap artist MC Hammer.

However, this “no-athletes policy” changed when the company recruited New Jersey Nets’ Derrick Coleman and New York Knicks’ Xavier McDaniel, as endorsers for BK’s shoes with Dymacel technology.

In 1992, British Knights raked in a total of $32 million dollars, thanks to its advertising strategies (including the “Choose Change” ad) which highly chronicled the label in different channels like Nickelodeon and MTV.

Sadly, BK saw an untimely demise when the Crips, a street gang, wore the BK shoes and attributed the acronym to the “Blood Killers” (their rival gang). This unfortunate event resulted in banning students from wearing BK shoes in schools, colleges and universities.

In their efforts to revive the business, British Knights re-launched an advertising campaign in the US by building a new website and placing ads in Source Magazine. But because of some unknown reasons, the anticipated “comeback” never took place. The shoes were not sold in retail outlets as planned.

In 1996, Jack Schwartz Shoes Inc. leased the BK trademark to a German company which in turn manufactured inexpensive skate shoes. The designs were completely different compared to the real thing. Later in 2003, the company started manufacturing new models in limited editions. These new models, which were based on running shoes, were less stocky compared to the original shoes. The new shoes became available in Australian and New Zealand department stores in 2005, however it confused the buyers who were used to the “original” BKs.

In 2008 the company made another comeback by re-launching their original 1989 shoes such as the Leader Hi and Lo, Kings SL in Hi and Lo, and Ultra. These shoes are available on the brand’s website: www.britishknights.com, Karma Loop, and Dr. Jays.

In the UK, British Knights are distributed by BK Sports Inc. and Empire Sports. The shoes and apparel are available at John David Sports, Geminder Brothers, Foothold, Grattans, M Bros, Jack Shah, Dolcis, All Sports, Cobra sports, and Blanc Leisure Limited. In Australia, Pacific Brands is the sole authorized distributor of British Knights.

Despite the brand’s setbacks over the years, British Knights proves that it’s a brand to be reckoned with. And with hip hop enthusiasts clamoring for more BKs, it is doubtful that this unique shoe company will be going anywhere anytime soon.