Skechers is an American shoe company headquartered in Manhattan Beach

Manhattan Beach, California

Manhattan Beach is the wealthiest beachfront city located in southwestern Los Angeles County, California, USA. The city is on the Pacific coast, south of El Segundo, and north of Hermosa Beach. Manhattan Beach is the home of both beach and indoor volleyball, and surfing. During the winter, the...

, California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

, founded by CEO

Chief executive officer

A chief executive officer , managing director , Executive Director for non-profit organizations, or chief executive is the highest-ranking corporate officer or administrator in charge of total management of an organization...

 Robert Greenberg. Greenberg started Skechers in 1992 after he left LA Gear which he also founded. Skechers was started with his son as a distributor for Doc Martens; they launched their own shoe line the following year. This did not last long as they started importing knock-off Doc Martens boots which ended in a legal battle between Skechers and Doc Martins.
Skechers' early products were utility-style boot

Boot

A boot is a type of footwear but they are not shoes. Most boots mainly cover the foot and the ankle and extend up the leg, sometimes as far as the knee or even the hip. Most boots have a heel that is clearly distinguishable from the rest of the sole, even if the two are made of one piece....

s and skate shoes

Skate shoes

Skate shoes are shoes specially designed and manufactured for use in skateboarding. While some non-skaters choose to wear skate shoes, the design of the skate shoe includes many features designed for use in skateboarding...

; the company has since diversified to include thousands of athletic

Athletic shoe

Athletic shoe is a generic name for the footwear primarily designed for sports or other forms of physical exercise but in recent years has come to be used for casual everyday activities....

, casual

Sneakers (footwear)

The American term sneakers is a synonym for athletic shoes. More specifically, sneakers refer to footwear made of flexible material, typically featuring a sole made of rubber and an upper part made of leather or canvas. Sneakers were originally sporting apparel, but are today worn much more widely...

 and dress

Dress shoe

A dress shoe is a shoe to be worn at smart casual or more formal events. A dress shoe is typically contrasted to an athletic shoe....

 styles for men, women and children.

Skechers makes an effort to maintain a trendy and stylish brand image by using celebrity-driven advertising, and has promoted its product with singers Brandy

Brandy Norwood

Brandy Rayana Norwood , known professionally as Brandy, is an American singer-songwriter, producer, actress, and dancer. In 2009, she introduced her rap alter-ego Bran'Nu....

, Britney Spears

Britney Spears

Britney Jean Spears is an American recording artist and entertainer. Born in McComb, Mississippi, and raised in Kentwood, Louisiana, Spears began performing as a child, landing acting roles in stage productions and television shows. She signed with Jive Records in 1997 and released her debut album...

, Christina Aguilera

Christina Aguilera

Christina María Aguilera is an American recording artist and actress. Aguilera first appeared on national television in 1990 as a contestant on the Star Search program, and went on to star in Disney Channel's television series The Mickey Mouse Club from 1993–1994...

, The Black Eyed Peas

The Black Eyed Peas

The Black Eyed Peas are an American pop group , formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1995. The group includes rappers will.i.am, apl.de.ap, and Taboo, and singer Fergie. Since the release of their third album Elephunk in 2003, the group has sold an estimated 56 million records worldwide...

, Ashlee Simpson

Ashlee Simpson

Ashlee Nicole Simpson is an American singer and actress. In 2004, she rose to prominence with the success of her number-one debut album Autobiography and the reality series, The Ashlee Simpson Show. In October 2005, following a North American concert tour and a film appearance, Simpson released...

, Carrie Underwood

Carrie Underwood

Carrie Marie Underwood is an American country singer-songwriter and actress who rose to fame as the winner of the fourth season of American Idol, in 2005...

 and David Cook

David Cook (singer)

David Roland Cook is an American rock singer-songwriter, who rose to fame after winning the seventh season of the reality television show American Idol...

; actors Robert Downey Jr.

Robert Downey Jr.

Robert John Downey, Jr. is an American actor. Downey made his screen debut in 1970 at the age of five when he appeared in his father's film Pound, and has worked consistently in film and television ever since. During the 1980s he had roles in a series of coming of age films associated with the...

, Rob Lowe

Rob Lowe

Robert Hepler "Rob" Lowe is an American actor. Lowe came to prominence after appearing in films such as The Outsiders, Oxford Blues, About Last Night..., St. Elmo's Fire, and Wayne's World. On television, Lowe is known for his role as Sam Seaborn on The West Wing and his role as Senator Robert...

 and Matt Dillon

Matt Dillon

Matthew Raymond "Matt" Dillon is an American actor and film director. He began acting in the late 1970s, gaining fame as a teenage idol during the 1980s.- Early life :...

; athletes Joe Montana

Joe Montana

Joseph Clifford "Joe" Montana, Jr. , nicknamed Joe Cool, Golden Joe, The Golden Great and Comeback Joe, is a retired American football player. Montana started his NFL career in 1979 with the San Francisco 49ers, where he played quarterback for the next 14 seasons...

, Karl Malone

Karl Malone

Karl Anthony Malone , nicknamed "The Mailman", is a retired American professional basketball power forward who spent the majority of his career with the Utah Jazz of the National Basketball Association . Malone spent his first 18 seasons with the Jazz and formed a formidable duo with his teammate...

, Rick Fox

Rick Fox

Ulrich Alexander "Rick" Fox is a Canadian television actor and retired professional basketball player who last played for the NBA's Los Angeles Lakers in 2004.-Early life:...

 and Wayne Gretzky

Wayne Gretzky

Wayne Douglas Gretzky, CC is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player and former head coach. Nicknamed "The Great One", he is generally regarded as the best player in the history of the National Hockey League , and has been called "the greatest hockey player ever" by many sportswriters,...

; and TV personalities Kim Kardashian

Kim Kardashian

Kimberly Noel "Kim" Kardashian is an American socialite, television personality, model, actress and businesswoman. She is known for the E! reality series that she shares with her family—Keeping Up with the Kardashians, and its spin-offs including Kourtney and Kim Take New York...

, Kris Jenner

Kris Jenner

Kristen Mary "Kris" Jenner is an American television personality, socialite and businesswoman. She also is the manager for all of her family members, including Kim Kardashian, Kourtney Kardashian and Khloé Kardashian...

 and Brooke Burke

Brooke Burke

Brooke Burke Charvet , better known by her maiden name, Brooke Burke, is an actress, dancer, model and television personality...

.

Skechers' brands include Skechers Sport, Skechers USA, Active, Cali, Shape-ups

Rocker bottom shoe

A rocker sole shoe or rocker bottom shoe is a shoe which has a thicker-than-normal sole with rounded heel. Such shoes ensure the wearer does not have flat footing along the proximal-distal axis of the foot. The shoes are generically known by a variety of names including round bottom shoes, round/ed...

, Tone-ups, Skechers Resistance, Skechers Work and Skechers Kids. Branded separately, the company's fashion and street lines include Unltd. by Marc Ecko

Marc Ecko

Marc Eckō is an American fashion designer, entrepreneur, investor, artist, and philanthropist. He is the founder and Chief Creative Officer of Marc Eckō Enterprises, a billion-dollar global fashion and lifestyle company...

, Zoo York

Zoo York

Zoo York is a style and social philosophy inspired by the New York City graffiti art subculture of the 1970s. Its name originates from a subway tunnel running underneath the area of the Central Park Zoo...

 and Mark Nason.

Many Skechers shoe designs are copies of other shoe designs with very good marketing.
Many Skechers designs look almost like other designers products, one notable example being the Shape Ups line, a copy of Karl Müller

Karl Müller (inventor)

Karl Müller is a Swiss engineer and businessman. He is the creator of the Masai Barefoot Technology brand of rocker bottom shoes, and holds a patent on his design. Müller founded Swiss Masai in 1996 to market his new shoe concept...

's MBT

Rocker bottom shoe

A rocker sole shoe or rocker bottom shoe is a shoe which has a thicker-than-normal sole with rounded heel. Such shoes ensure the wearer does not have flat footing along the proximal-distal axis of the foot. The shoes are generically known by a variety of names including round bottom shoes, round/ed...

shoe design.
Skechers is currently involved in a class action lawsuit alleging that it has misled customers with its Shape-Ups ads. Another lawsuit is pending that questions the safety of the Shape-Ups shoes.