Skip to Content
Newsletter

Corridor x K-SWISS Embrace Retro Futurism for New Footwear Collection

[vc_empty_space height="5px"]

By Caitlin Thompson
Potos by Molly Cranna

[vc_empty_space height="15px"]

As the tennis world’s eyes turn to the Southern California desert this week with the start of the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, the iconic American heritage brand K-Swiss has teamed up with New York menswear brand Corridor to launch a footwear collaboration for on and off the court. With stylish minimalism, the unisex collection features both a re-imagination of the Classic 66—a sustainable canvas shoe with serious cultural bonafides—as well as the performance oriented SpeedTrac, in cream and black colorways.

We spoke to both teams about how their partnership came to life, and why everything about this launch, from the design to the narrative campaign, references tennis’ past in order to pave way for its future.

corridor_Kswiss_feature_2
corridor_Kswiss_feature_1

"For K-Swiss, the goal was to blend the world of heritage tennis and performance tennis,” says Anna Amador, Vice President of Marketing at K-Swiss. “There’s a sweet spot that this collaboration really hits that speaks to what tennis was and what tennis is going to be. Corridor brings another element of styling and perspective that curates a poetic execution, and we absolutely love it."

Designer Dan Snyder founded Corridor in 2013, and the menswear brand has grown into one of the most influential workshops, using selectively ethical and environmentally sustainable practices. Tennis is also tremendously meaningful to him, between playing with his dad to his near-daily hit in Prospect Park, Brooklyn. So the idea of creating his first foray into tennis with the legendary K-Swiss presented him with both the opportunity to pay homage to the past, but also contribute in a real way to the future of on-court performance shoes.

"The Classic 66 is that perfect, stripped down casual shoe," he says, "But the collaboration wouldn’t have any teeth without the SpeedTrac performance shoe. To me the point is to get them into pro shops, on recreational players. I think this collaboration works because it’s about tennis—not fashion, not necessarily the pro game—but for people who love to play."

He says both referencing his own tennis experiences helped him really articulate his desire to make something tonal and sleek and technical enough that it would look and feel at home on the courts, but also be able to transition to the part of his life that is work in the Corridor studio.

corridor_Kswiss_feature_3
corridor_Kswiss_feature_7

For Jon Tang, K-Swiss’ Senior Designer of collaborations, everything about the way the collaboration grew beyond just the canvas shoe into a modern, technical offering that will be worn by K-Swiss athletes at this year’s BNP Paribas Open, makes perfect sense.

"As we were brainstorming ideas that hit the sweet spot between the intersection of tennis and streetwear, we started off with the Classic 66. What's the modern New York outfit? It’s canvas shoes with no socks," Tang says. "Dan really wanted to switch it up and go into performance, and our tennis group was innovating for speed already. That was so exciting for me, it allows us to span tennis past, present and future."

For this bi-coastal partnership, the timing of a launch around Southern California's biggest tennis event is a huge opportunity to get eyes on the collaboration, and Racquet's visual campaign, shot by frequent collaborator Molly Cranna at municipal courts in Santa Barbara, evokes both a classic SoCal look with super modern and dynamic play.

"We knew we wanted to launch during Indian Wells, as a brand so aligned with Southern California," Tang says. "And the Santa Barbara courts look so wonderfully washed out—the tone feels like a perfect marriage of old and new. The timelessness of this campaign is like we were shooting in the 1970s, but for today."

For K-Swiss and Corridor, it's hard to think of a more perfect encapsulation of the collection's retro futurism.

[vc_empty_space height="5px"]

corridor_Kswiss_feature_5

Shop the K-Swiss x Corridor Collection

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Racquet

Back on the Ranch

In 1957, John Gardiner raised the bar at a tennis resort in Carmel. There's no one left who can reach it.

October 22, 2025

Shanghai Masters Was a Mirror Held up to China

Between the brand activations and choreographed energy, it felt like modern China itself: futuristic and polished; still striving to assert its place on the world stage.

October 16, 2025

Have Padel will Travel

Padel has emerged as a more-approachable alternative to tennis, drawing in a vast customer base eager for a sport that eschews the traditional formality often associated with tennis clubs. This shift speaks to a broader opportunity in presenting a warm front door that’s wide open for newcomers; Tennis could stand to take note.

October 10, 2025

Tennis by Sea

In which a never-cruiser cruises, crushes balls, converts.

October 8, 2025

Roscoe Tanner’s Second Serve: The ’80s Bad Boy in Teeny Tacchinis

We talked with Grand Slam winner and former world no. 4 Roscoe Tanner—at one time everyone’s favorite bad boy—about his time on tour with Borg and Ashe, getting out on the Champions Tour [Jim Courier: please make it happen], and tiny shorts. His new book, Second Serve, reconciles past mistakes (and there were quite a few) with what he’s learned since. 

October 7, 2025

Is Anyone Having Any Fun?

At this point, who is going to be able to make it through this meat grinder of a season? Do the the tour finals still matter no matter how many friends they lose, or people they leave dead and bloodied and dying along the way? Plus: No matter who REALLY started the conspiracy theories about courts getting slower (looking at you, Roger), you can count on Alex Zverev to whine about it.

October 6, 2025
See all posts