LA Gear
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LA Gear (or L.A. Gear) is an American shoe company based out of Los Angeles, California (hence the name). It is owned by ACI International.
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[edit] Early days
L.A. Gear was founded by Robert Greenberg in 1979, originally to market and rent roller skates in Venice Beach.[1] The shoe brand was introduced in the mid 1980s, and quickly became popular among many people.
The earliest L.A. Gear shoes were high tops, known for bright fluorescent colors, a flame design on the sides, and at least two pairs of shoelaces with each pair, each different colors (one would be white, the other would be some other color like pink, purple, or black).
With a stellar sales force that included none other than Michael Greenberg, David "I've been fired three times at tradeshows" Griego, Russ "Na-Na" Nahirny, Michael Mitchell, Bob Goad, Jeff Krewson, and more took the brand to heights never expected. They sold a lifestyle, a feeling, and flavors or life.
[edit] Who wore LA Gear?
Like most athletic shoe companies, LA Gear had their endorsers, namely former NBA superstars Karl Malone and Hakeem Olajuwon, NFL Hall of Fame quarterback Joe Montana, and (later) NHL great Wayne Gretzky. LA Gear did branch out a bit, not like some companies did, and was able to secure endorsements from two of the hottest pop stars of the day, Michael Jackson and Paula Abdul (whose shoe was one of the hottest selling of all-time).
[edit] Into the '90s
In the early '90s, LA Gear expanded their product line a bit, trying to become a more serious athletic shoe company, but keeping fashionability at the same time. They had varying degrees of success.
Some of the designs included:
Catapult: The LA Gear equivalent of Air Jordans, a high-end basketball shoe and training shoe line. Made a comeback in the early 2000's.
Regulator: LA Gear's answer to the Reebok Pump and other inflatable shoe craze of the early '90s.
L.A. Lights: First seen in 1992, and copied millions of times since. LA Gear put red LED lights in the heels of their shoes, and every time a person's foot hit the floor, the lights would light up. Another version of L.A. Lights was called L.A. Tech, a series of performance athletic shoes with a removable light in the back of the shoe.
At the same time, LA Gear stuck with its fashionable line of shoes, catering mostly to women. Among its designs were the Dancer, a shoe almost identical to the Reebok Freestyle in design, and the popular Street Shots series of high tops, which went with a more classic look, while still retaining some of the old LA Gear glitz. To distinguish this line from the rest of LA Gear's shoes, the company adopted a new logo for its women's line, with the company name encased inside a small diamond-shape.
[edit] Popularity fades
As the 1990's wore on, LA Gear's popularity began to plummet. The company lost quite a bit of money during this time, and ended up cutting back most of their production, keeping only a few lines of shoes. The sale of the line to dealers that marketed the shoes at Southern CA swapmeets killed the product.
[edit] Comeback
LA Gear made a comeback in 2004, with a relaunch of its Catapult basketball shoe line, and in 2005 released a new line of shoes for both men (athletic) and women (fashion).
