LA Gear

LA Gear (or L.A. Gear) is an American shoe company based in Los Angeles, California. It is owned by ACI International.

Early days

L.A. Gear was founded by Robert Greenberg in 1979, to market and rent roller skates in Venice Beach. [http://www.cob.ohio-state.edu/fin/dice/papers/2001/2001-7.pdf] Basketball shoes were introduced in the mid-1980s and quickly became popular.

The earliest basketball shoes were high-tops in bright fluorescent colors with a flame design on the sides and at least two laces with each pair (typically one white, and one another color).

Who wore L.A. Gear?

Endorsers included Kareem Abdul Jabbar, Karl Malone, Hakeem Olajuwon, Joe Montana, and later Wayne Gretzky. L.A. Gear later signed contracts with non-athletes such as Michael Jackson and Paula Abdul (whose shoe was one of the company's biggest sellers.)

Into the '90s

In the early 1990s, L.A. Gear expanded its product line, adding serious athletic shoes while trying to remain fashionable.Some of the designs included:

Catapult: The LA Gear equivalent of Air Jordans, a high-end basketball shoe and training shoe line. It was originally endorsed by Karl "The Mailman" Malone. It 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 since copied. LA Gear put red LED lights in the heels of their shoes, and when a wearer's foot hit the floor, the lights would illuminate. 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.

Flak: A brand similar to popular Nike and Adidas products during the mid-1990's.

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 diamond-shape.

Popularity fades

In the later 1990s, LA Gear's popularity began to plummet. The company lost money during this time, and cut back on production, keeping only a few lines of shoes. The sale of the line to dealers that marketed shoes at Southern California swapmeets killed the product.

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 men (athletic) and women (fashion). LA Gear is planning what appears to be a more legitimate comeback in Fall 2008. There will be reissues of many of their popular shoes from the late 80's.

External links

* [http://www.lagear.com/ LA Gear]
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=byH21L6vjiw Paula Abdul L.A. Gear commercial from early '90s]