Kickers

On the French scene in 1970, Daniel Raufast came across a poster advertising the musical Hair. Interested by all the barefooted youngsters wearing jeans, he developed a new shoe concept which he believed to be more compatible with the ‘blue-jean’ generation. The designer Jacques Chevallereau then created the first jean boot. This new shoe was very different: the use of nubuck; shapes that looked more like short boots than regular shoes; tough crepe soles made with natural rubber, eyelets, contrast stitching, panels and appliqués all obviously referencing denim. The success was such that, within one season, Kickers production capacity grew from 300 to 12,000 pairs per month. Immediately successful in France and then Germany, by 1974, Kickers were selling in over 70 countries. Kickers was first launched in the UK market during this surge in popularity, in 1970.