A courtside look at our collaboration with the sneaker store trendsetters.
established
in Munich
1993
KICKZ has been making an impression since it was founded in Munich in 1993. The bold German brand brought its creative edge to Bread & Butter 2017 and continues to drive trends with its connections to basketball, music and urban art. We catch up with KICKZ founder, Christian Grosse about KICKZ’s beginnings and its partnership with Zalando.
I figured it
was a good time to start.”
CHRISTIAN GROSSE
FOUNDER KICKZ
When KICKZ first opened its doors in 1993, it was a one-of-a-kind offering in Europe. Known for its clean, sleek store, KICKZ positioned sneakers as objects of worship: from the classics, right up to contemporary models. Basketball was always a strong focus of the company’s; drawing effortless cool from connections to music and urban art, as well as the iconic ‘92 US “Dream Team” with legends like Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson at the Barcelona Olympics.
“I figured it was a good time to start,” founder Christian Grosse, speaks of his beginnings in the industry. “I had no clue about the business in the beginning. I just came back from university in South Africa, so it was a classic learning by doing.”
The company has always been as trailblazing in logistics as it is in its concept, and the successful mail order model translated easily into the online world with the arrival of the Internet, making KICKZ one of the very first online stores in Germany. Grosse’s inherent team savvy played into the company’s success with a series of collaborations: Patrick Mohr, K1X and since 2016, Zalando. The K1XPM shoe is a phenomenon all on its own. KICKZ supplies it to the best sneaker stores on the planet. and they sell out within minutes.
“It’s been great so far,” Grosse explains about the KICKZ partnership with Zalando. “I am impressed by the people driving it and working there.”
KICKZ is known
globally as
a trendsetter
in urban fashion.
Zalando’s team spirit, speed, friendliness, pure talent and boldness – combined with a healthy ‘icke bins’, Berlin attitude – is their (and our) winning formula.”
CHRISTIAN GROSSE
FOUNDER KICKZ
With its bold approach to fashion e-commerce, Zalando is a perfect match. The Zalando basketball store, which is partly curated by KICKZ, provides inspiration to courtside enthusiasts and sneakerheads. KICKZ uses Zalando content creation to shoot their sneakers and clothes, leveraging the company’s expertise and reach. We saw this play out during Black Friday 2017, when the brand saw a “Black Friday all-time high” with access to more customers than ever before through our online store as part of the Partner Program. KICKZ’s strong, authentic content and Zalando’s logistic and tech reach makes for a solid team.
Basketball isn’t a slow-game, and neither is fashion. Together with KICKZ, we’re looking forward to continuing to innovate and inspire. Grosse agrees, “Zalando’s team spirit, speed, friendliness, pure talent and boldness – combined with a healthy ‘icke bins’, Berlin attitude – is their (and our) winning formula.”
