K-Swiss Taps Dave Grange as International President, Barney Waters Leaves Brand

K-Swiss has tapped Dave Grange as international brand president. The executive will succeed Barney Waters, who is departing to lead an eyewear brand after 12 years with the classic sneaker label.

Grange, who was most recently VP of sales at K-Swiss, will assume day-to-day leadership of the brand, which is owned by China-based Xtep International Holdings Ltd.

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“I feel very privileged to take the leadership position with such an iconic and important heritage brand. We are currently the No. 1 tennis footwear brand in specialty retail and are enjoying tremendous growth within our lifestyle division. We are in a strong position to continue our positive trajectory and build our legacy further,” Grange said.

Since joining K-Swiss in 2020, the executive has implemented a number of key initiatives including a full commercial sales restructure, segmentation strategy and reinvigorating the retail landscape.

“Along with the full restructure of the commercial team, we have worked diligently on our distribution strategy. This has included closing down some partners that no longer fit,” Grange told FN in May. “I’m very happy to report the rewards were immediate. The order book in 2021 is showing triple-digit growth, and this year will exceed our pre-COVID 2019 numbers.”

Prior to joining K-Swiss, Dave was SVP of footwear at Lacoste, leading its footwear sales in North America. He previously spent 16 years at Pentland Brands, focusing on Lacoste Footwear, and was eventually president there. In between his stints at Lacoste and Pentland, Grange was VP of North America for Keds and Pro Keds.