Skechers partners with Shopkins for back-to-school launch

By

Cassidy Mantor

Published
Jul 11, 2017

Skechers has forged a new multi-year licensing partnership with top kids brand Shopkins and will launch a new girls line of cobranded shoes for back to school season.

Skechers is targeting its young girls market with the collaboration. The shoes will feature Shopkins characters and branding. Skechers has chosen its Twinkle Toes style of shoe as the base for the collaboration, an interesting choice considering the company is currently involved in trademark litigation with Converse over whether the style was a copy of classic Chuck Taylors.

Skechers has been making its children's line for twenty years. It makes footwear for sizes ranging from toddler to teen. The products have received awards from footwear industry reports. The decision to partner with Shopkins should be an automatic win for Skechers retail sales.

Shopkins was ranked the number one children's brand by NPD in 2015. It was created in 2011 and features 100 characters that appear in animated webisodes. YouTube reports 1 billion views of Shopkins videos.

Shopkins has become a licensing brand. It sold the top-selling toy in the US in 2015 called the Shopkins 12-pack. It generated $1 billion dollars in retail sales in the US for 2016, making it the top girls brand across nine categories. It has 210 global licenses and 18 agents manufacturing goods as the brand continues to grow.

No launch date is set yet, but Skechers announced the Shopkins shoes will be available for back to school. They will sell both in Skechers brick and mortar retail locations and online.