British Knights

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British Knights is a shoe company founded in 1980 by the Jack Schwartz Shoes Inc, based in New York. The first footwear range was released in America in 1986 and in the UK in 1989.

1 Distribution
2 Popularity
3 Dymacel
4 Endorsement
5 Marketing Campaigns
6 The Fall of BK - Urban Rumours
7 The German Company
8 Trivia

[edit] Distribution

The footwear was distributed in the UK by Empire Sports and BK Sports Inc and available at stores such as Blanc Leisure Limited, Cobra Sports, Allsports, Dolcis, Jack Shah, M Bros, Grattans, Foothold, Geminder Bros, John David Sports. During 1992, the company turned over more than $32m and was advertised prolifically on Channel 4 and MTV - through sponsorship of the MTV Movie Awards.

[edit] Popularity

British Knights footwear and apparrell was popular in the U.S., U.K., Europe and Australia during the early 1990s, particularly within the hip hop scene. The brand was similar in design to SPX and Troop footwear and poised a market threat to established rivals such as Nike and Adidas.

The shoes were recognisable by their chunky sole design, large tongue and inclusion of multiple "BK" logos on the heel, toe guard and upper. Indeed, the principal stylists used for BK were also employed by SPX and Troop. Several models including BK's "Director High" are almost identical to Troop models. The brand was featured prominently in hip hop and dance music videos by artists such as Public Enemy, Technotronic and Beats International.

[edit] Dymacel

Dymacel was an enhancement in BK shoe models of the early 1990s. The technology consisted of diamond shaped green silicon cushioning embedded within a sole window and was a feature intended to compete with Nike's "Nike Air", Puma's "Puma Disc" and Reebok's "Reebok Pump". Like most shoe enhancements of the period, the actual performance improvement as opposed to the aesthetic aspect was debatable. Dymacel was first released in Australian and Europe models. Shoes were accompanied with a lenticular tag intended to hang off the laces.

[edit] Endorsement

For many years, the company resisted endorsement by a professional athlete, a popular practice of many modern day apparel companies. Instead, they focused on being something of a hip hop lifestyle alternative. This policy ended, however, with the endorsement of their new "Dymacel Technology" by Derrick Coleman of the New Jersey Nets and Xavier McDaniel of the New York Knicks.

[edit] Marketing Campaigns

1990: "Get off on the right foot - get off on BK's"
1991: "U Cant Touch This" (featuring MC Hammer)
1992: "Choose Change"

[edit] The Fall of BK - Urban Rumours

Urban legend at the time said that the Crips street gang wore the shoes and took the "BK" logo to indicate "Blood Killer," in reference to the rival gang. Further rumors stated that a shoe company called Christian Knights would release shoes for the Bloods, with a "CK" to indicate "Crip Killer.' The rumours are reported to have contributed to the decline in popularity of the brand. Troop suffered the same fate, leading some to speculate that the rumours were started by a rival company.

Jack Schwartz Shoe Company Inc has since launched a new brand called "Lugz", endorsed by DJ Funkmaster Flex and rapper Birdman.

[edit] The German Company

In the late 1990's British Knights had begun re-advertising in the U.S., most notably in the Source Magazine, and had built a new website. However, due to unknown reasons, the shoes were not distributed to retail outlets and the "comeback" never eventuated.

During 1996, Jack Schwartz Shoes Inc licensed the BK British Knights trademark to a German firm whom marketed British Knights as a discount skate shoe. The styles differed to the original American brand and were available for sale in department stores. During 2005, several of these models appeared in Australian discount stores - invariably leading to confusion among sneaker collectors seeking the original brand.

As of 2003, the U.S. company began producing new models in limited runs, although the new models are less chunky in their design and based on running shoe trends.

[edit] Trivia

British Knights featured in the song "Back In the Day" by Missy Elliott featuring Jay Z. The lyrics were "Back up in the day/ British Knights and Gold Chains..."