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Yigal Azrouel Collaborates with K-Swiss for Spring 2008 Shoe Collection

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NEW YORK, Sept. 4 /PRNewswire/ -- Inspired by the spirit and heritage of luxury sportswear, designer Yigal Azrouel is partnering with K-Swiss to create a capsule collection of Men's sneakers for Spring 2008. The styles, which combine details of K-Swiss's trademark tennis sneakers and Azrouel's refined and sporty edge, will debut on the designer's runway this season. The show, which features both his Men's and Women's Ready to Wear collections will take place on Wednesday, September 5th at 2pm.

The union of Yigal Azrouel and K-Swiss, which is a first of this type of collaboration for both parties, transcends most contemporary notions about sportswear; the sneakers reflect Azrouel's nuanced understanding of materials and playful attitude towards design. "The K-Swiss aesthetic perfectly matches my own Menswear sensibility," Azrouel explains, "The K-Swiss legacy is one of elegance and simplicity, and we pay homage to those ideas with our collaboration. The design process has been very natural and there is really a great synergy at work."

Azrouel, who launched his eponymous Women's Ready to Wear collection in 1999 and is an active CFDA member, designed his first full Menswear collection for the Fall 2007 season, drawing inspiration from his active lifestyle. His love of surfing and sport in general has influenced the Menswear collection and made the collaboration with K-Swiss all the more salient. All five shoe styles, based off classic K-Swiss forms, have a gum sole with uppers in black and white ginghams, raw cotton canvases and bone suedes that pair well with a range of Azrouel's looks, from denim to suiting. Jennifer Weiderman, VP of Marketing for K-Swiss, also notes the synergy of the collaboration. "Fall 2007 marks an important time for K-Swiss as we are working with a number of elite athletes to showcase our new product collections. A partnership with Azrouel further solidifies the beautiful sport message, and allows us to enter into the realm of premium fashion with a highly respected designer."

In addition to the runway styles, Yigal Azrouel will collaborate with Product Designer Dror Benshetrit to create an installation in Azrouel's meatpacking district boutique for Fashion Week, inspired by the K-Swiss tradition. The installation will also coincide with the 2007 US Open.

About K-Swiss:

Located in Westlake Village, CA, K-Swiss is a $500 + million dollar publicly traded company founded forty years ago by two Swiss brothers. The brothers, avid tennis players, introduced the first all-leather tennis sneaker, the K-Swiss "Classic" in 1966, filling a void in the market. The firm currently makes tennis and lifestyle footwear, apparel and is currently moving into other performance footwear and apparel categories such as nautical, training, and running.