Skechers x Ryan’s World is First Major Collaboration Between a Global Shoe Brand and Kid YouTube Star

Skechers, the comfort technology company and an award-winning leader in kids’ footwear, is today launching the new Skechers x Ryan’s World collaboration. Ryan Kaji, nine-year-old star of the global “Ryan’s World” franchise, whose YouTube channel boasts over 30 million subscribers, worked with the Skechers Kids design team on the colorful collection launching today—marking the first time a major shoe brand has offered a kid YouTube star a global footwear deal. Skechers developed the collaboration with pocket.watch and the Kaji family’s Sunlight Entertainment.

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Skechers teams up with “Ryan’s World” on kids' footwear in Skechers x Ryan's World collaboration. (Graphic: Business Wire)

“These shoes are awesome and I know my fans will love them,” said Ryan Kaji. “It was amazing to help design the sneakers and we did some super cool things in a special video that I can’t wait for everyone to see!” Viewers will be introduced to the Skechers x Ryan’s World footwear collection in one of Ryan’s signature playful videos that can be seen here.

“Skechers has been designing shoes that kids want to wear for nearly 30 years, and Ryan’s energetic enthusiasm makes him perfect for our award-winning Skechers Kids line,” said Michael Greenberg, president of Skechers. “We know the millions who watch Ryan and his family will love discovering how the Skechers x Ryan’s World collection is revealed on his channel, and parents will appreciate that Ryan’s fun footwear arrives with the comfort and quality that only Skechers delivers.”

The initial range of three styles offers footwear options for any kid. Ryan’s Challenge (406061L) is a light-up colorful slip-on sneaker with bungee laces and a hook-and-loop strap closure. Gamer Ryan (406062L) is a lightweight colorful slip-on sneaker with a cool Magna-Fit™ toggle closure. The canvas mid-top Red Titan (406060L) sneaker features Ryan’s superhero secret identity character design and a durable rubber outsole.

Since its 2015 launch and partnership with pocket.watch, the premier kids’ and family entertainment platform, “Ryan’s World” has grown to become one of the world’s largest and most successful kids’ franchises. The “Ryan’s World” YouTube channel features easy science experiments, educational content, animated adventures, imaginative toy play, and videos that document daily life for the family of five, which includes Ryan’s younger twin sisters. The “Ryan’s World” franchise also features videos and content distributed via the Ryan and Friends OTT channels, mobile games and apps, and consumer products sold in 30 countries.

The Skechers Kids collection has been recognized numerous times by the fashion and footwear industry, receiving accolades for design excellence from Drapers, Earnshaw’s and The Footwear Industry Awards UK, as well as five awards from Footwear Plus—most recently in 2021.

Styles in the Skechers x Ryan’s World collection for kids are available now at Skechers retail locations, skechers.com and select retail partners in North America.

About SKECHERS USA, Inc.

Skechers (NYSE:SKX), the comfort technology company based in Southern California, designs, develops and markets a diverse range of lifestyle and performance footwear, apparel and accessories for men, women and children. The Company’s collections are available in the United States and over 170 countries and territories via department and specialty stores, and direct to consumers through 3,989 Company and third-party-owned retail stores and e-commerce websites. The Company manages its international business through a network of global distributors, joint venture partners in Asia, Israel and Mexico, and wholly-owned subsidiaries in Canada, Japan, India, Europe and Latin America. For more information, please visit about.skechers.com and follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok.

About Sunlight Entertainment

Sunlight Entertainment is Ryan Kaji’s family-owned and operated production company that develops family-friendly content that is driven to help kids learn. Founded in 2017, Sunlight Entertainment was created by Ryan and his family to help streamline the workflow of one of YouTube’s largest kids’ channels, Ryan’s World. The company continues to grow and currently manages nine YouTube channels: Ryan’s World, Ryan’s World Español, Ryan’s World in Japanese, EK Doodles, Ryan’s Family Review, Vtubers, Combo Panda, Gus the Gummy Gator and The Studio Space. Sunlight Entertainment employs a 30-person team of videographers, editors, animators, writers and voice actors to help produce live action and animated content -- releasing about 25 videos a week. Currently, Ryan’s World has rapidly evolved from a toy review YouTube channel to a global kids play and entertainment brand through digital and broadcast entertainment, toys and consumer products. To learn more, visit: ryans.world.

About pocket.watch

Pocket.watch specializes in entertaining and inspiring kids and families through digital-first content and sparking their imaginations with lifestyle products ranging from toys to toothbrushes. The company inspires kids to seamlessly move between screen time and playtime and boasts a growing portfolio of franchises that includes some of the largest kids and family YouTube brands in the world. Pocket.watch created and produces Ryan’s Mystery Playdate, which airs on Nickelodeon and is the #1 preschool show on television. The company was founded in March 2017 by Chris M. Williams and is located in Culver City, CA where it maintains an office and studio. Its management team is made up of studio veterans and visionaries from traditional and digital entertainment including Albie Hecht, Jon Moonves, David B. Williams and Kerry Tucker. Investors and stakeholders include Viacom, Greycroft, Third Wave Digital and United Talent Agency (UTA), as well as notable strategic angels including Robert Downey Jr. (Team Downey) and Jon Landau with a significant stake in the company being held by ‘Ryan’s World’ creator Sunlight Entertainment. For more information about pocket.watch, please visit pocket.watch.

This announcement contains forward-looking statements that are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. These forward-looking statements may include, without limitation, Skechers’ future domestic and international growth, financial results and operations including expected net sales and earnings, its development of new products, future demand for its products, its planned domestic and international expansion, opening of new stores and additional expenditures, and advertising and marketing initiatives. Forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking language such as “believe,” “anticipate,” “expect,” “estimate,” “intend,” “plan,” “project,” “will be,” “will continue,” “will result,” “could,” “may,” “might,” or any variations of such words with similar meanings. Any such statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected in forward-looking statements. Factors that might cause or contribute to such differences include the disruption of business and operations due to the COVID-19 pandemic; international economic, political and market conditions including the challenging consumer retail markets in the United States; sustaining, managing and forecasting costs and proper inventory levels; losing any significant customers; decreased demand by industry retailers and cancellation of order commitments due to the lack of popularity of particular designs and/or categories of products; maintaining brand image and intense competition among sellers of footwear for consumers, especially in the highly competitive performance footwear market; anticipating, identifying, interpreting or forecasting changes in fashion trends, consumer demand for the products and the various market factors described above; sales levels during the spring, back-to-school and holiday selling seasons; and other factors referenced or incorporated by reference in Skechers’ annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2020 and its quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the three months ended March 31, 2021. More specifically, the COVID-19 pandemic has had and is currently having a significant impact on Skechers’ business, financial conditions, cash flow and results of operations. Forward-looking statements with respect to the COVID-19 pandemic include, without limitation, Skechers’ plans in response to this pandemic. At this time, there is significant uncertainty about the COVID-19 pandemic, including without limitation, (i) the duration and extent of the impact of the pandemic, (ii) governmental responses to the pandemic, including how such responses could impact Skechers’ business and operations, as well as the operations of its factories and other business partners, (iii) the effectiveness of Skechers’ actions taken in response to these risks, and (iv) Skechers’ ability to effectively and timely adjust its plans in response to the rapidly changing retail and economic environment. Taking these and other risk factors associated with the COVID-19 pandemic into consideration, the dynamic nature of these circumstances means that what is stated in this press release could change at any time, and as a result, actual results could differ materially from those contemplated by such forward-looking statements. The risks included here are not exhaustive. Skechers operates in a very competitive and rapidly changing environment. New risks emerge from time to time and we cannot predict all such risk factors, nor can we assess the impact of all such risk factors on our business or the extent to which any factor, or combination of factors, may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statements. Given these risks and uncertainties, you should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements as a prediction of actual results. Moreover, reported results should not be considered an indication of future performance.

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