Former New York Knicks center Patrick Ewing is relaunching his shoe company, Ewing Athletics, later this week.
"Over the years, I've had a lot of people ask me when they'd see me at appearances of when I was coaching, if I was ever bringing the shoes back," Ewing said Tuesday. "I just didn't feel comfortable doing it."
The brand will hit retail stores in New York on Friday and subsequently roll out in 33 stores nationwide before hitting Europe for the holiday season.
The first shoes that will hit stores are dubbed the "33 Hi Retro." Ewing's signature is on the tongue, heel and side and a "33" keychain comes attached to the shoe. The shoes come in a box with an older picture of Ewing in the blue and white of Georgetown, where he led the Hoyas to a national title in 1984.
In 1989, as the shoe business heated up thanks mostly due to Air Jordans, Ewing, who was getting paid nearly $1 million a year by adidas, left the brand. For most of the 1988-89 season, at the advice of Falk, he wore an unbranded white shoe to keep people guessing what was next. Toward the end of the season, Ewing, in partnership with Pony founder Roberto Mueller, unveiled the Ewing Athletics brand. By 1990, the company was doing remarkable business, selling about $100 million worth of shoes.
The company released more than 20 different shoe models until 1996, when challenges, including the overall sneaker market itself, forced Ewing and his partners to shut down the business.
