Pro-Keds expands, opens first store in Rome

Under Patrizio di Marco’s leadership, the heritage American sneaker brand founded in 1949 has opened its first flagship at 192 Via del Babuino, in the heart of Rome’s luxury shopping district. Conceived as a laboratory, the space is designed to build a community, host events and capture direct market feedback.

“It was an interesting opportunity we wanted to seize, and it’s working very well—we’re pleased. We opened it with a partner, and this is the model we intend to maintain going forward, sharing both investment and results,” di Marco tells FashionNetwork.com.

“We’re working on developing the European market, but with an eye already on Asia—specifically China, Hong Kong, Korea and Japan—and, of course, the United States, the brand’s home market. These are markets that, if they get off to a good start, could propel us from €1 million in the most recent financial year to €50 million in turnover within seven years; that is my goal.”

Today, Pro-Keds is present in more than 250 points of sale worldwide. In Italy, it is stocked by boutiques such as Biffi, Gente Roma, Dell’Oglio and FlowRun; in Europe and the Middle East it is available from Smets, The Corner, Beymen, Level Shoes and Ounass. In Asia, the brand’s recent entry is supported by strategic partners including B1OCK, Lane Crawford and Tmall in China and Hong Kong; the brand is also taking its first steps in the Korean market.

At Pitti Uomo 110, Pro-Keds presents its Spring/Summer 2027 collection, built around three positioning pillars: Made in Italy, Core & Urban, and Essentials. For the first of these, the highlight is the Royal Plus capsule, crafted entirely in Italy with Besneakers, the brand’s strategic partner and a benchmark for the design, development and production of sneakers worldwide. Royal Plus features a hand-crafted sole and tread, an ultra-soft, precision-stitched leather upper, and glitter detailing in the women’s styles.
 
The Core Collection re-centres the silhouettes that have defined the brand’s history, updating them through materials, colours and proportions. Royal Classic, born on American basketball courts, remains the essential model in the Pro-Keds wardrobe, with a suede or leather upper and red and blue side stripes. Racer 77, inspired by the spirit of the original 1977 T/Racer, returns in breathable nylon with suede overlays, and introduces new materials and colours such as satin and mesh. Finally, Sky—an ’80s basketball shoe—is reinterpreted as a lifestyle sneaker, retaining the original details that defined its identity: a padded collar and double side stripe.

The Urban line introduces two new models that reflect the brand’s more contemporary spirit: Uptown, which reimagines the Royal aesthetic with a streetwear twist, drawing inspiration from 1980s and 1990s New York and its imagery of sport, music and urban culture; and Skate, heir to the Skate Park Plus created in the 1970s in collaboration with James O’Mahoney, founder of the US Skateboard Association and the World Skateboard Association.
 
Finally, Essentials, deeply rooted in the brand’s archive, translates Pro-Keds’ aesthetic language for a young audience and interprets, through each model, a different sporting heritage associated with the brand: Field King, inspired by the original model launched for the New York Jets, brings the spirit of American football and team sports to the collection; Court Ace is a reinterpretation of one of the first tennis shoes created by Pro-Keds around 1978; while Intrepid, the ultimate expression of Pro-Keds’ vulcanised construction, showcases the brand’s legacy in the world of rubber.

On the communications front, the label is once again partnering on its new campaign with Jamel Shabazz, a photographer and storyteller who has documented New York’s urban culture since the 1980s: Pro-Keds appeared in his images even before an official collaboration began, and the first commercial street shoot between the brand and the photographer dates back to the 1970s. In 2026, the partnership is renewed with ‘Now and Then: NYC’, a photographic project shot in New York that puts the archive Shabazz has built over decades on the street in conversation with the city as it is today.