SPX or Sports Performance eXtreme, was a

footwear Footwear refers to garments worn on the feet, which typically serve the purpose of protective clothing, protection against adversities of the environment such as wear from rough ground; stability on slippery ground; and temperature. *Shoes and si ...

and sportswear brand in the late 1980s and early 1990s known for their distinctive

sneakers Sneakers (American English, US) or trainers (British English, UK), also known by a #Names, wide variety of other names, are shoes primarily designed for sports or other forms of physical exercise, but are also widely used for everyday casual ...

. The brand experienced a brief revival in Asia in the early 2000s under new ownership.

History

The company was founded in the 1980s by Clive King, a British businessman who had held a contract to distribute the Sergio Tacchini sportswear brand in the United Kingdom. Following the end of that contract in 1984, King began to look for another brand to distribute. This led him to discover

Troop A troop is a military sub-subunit, originally a small formation of cavalry, subordinate to a squadron. In many armies a troop is the equivalent element to the infantry section or platoon. Exceptions are the US Cavalry and the King's Troo ...

sneakers which he and a Dutch friend, Herman Gazan, managed to secure a contract to distribute in Europe. The venture was successful and King attempted to negotiate a contract to distribute the British Knights brand of sneakers as well. However, British Knight was not interested in a contract in which King continued to distribute Troop alongside British Knights. This led Knight to develop his own brand of sneakers which he called SPX. The company logo was one of the most noticeable at the time, with a smaller SP sitting in front of a large red X, with a crown sitting above. Following their success with footwear, the company subsequently expanded into apparel selling tracksuits which complemented its sneakers. The company entered receivership and shut down in the early 1990s. In the late 1990s, the SPX trademarks were sold by the receiver to Bernie Pai, the company's former agent in Taiwan. In 2002, Pai relaunched the brand with a focus on the Asian market. The revived brand lasted only briefly.

Product lines

There were three designs that formed the main cornerstone of the brand in the late 80s, and they were all based around the popular basketball style trainer: * Street Slam – An over ankle high length boot * Street Lo – Low version, below ankle * Street Diss – Over Ankle high * Diss Lo – Lower version * Freestyle – High ankle version These trainers played an important part of the 'Basketball trainers' scene, along with

, British Knights, LA Gear amongst others.

References

External links

History of SPXOfficial Website
Athletic shoe brands {{UK-company-stub