JUST FOR KICKS.

FASHION SHOE FIRM TARGETS THE COMPETITIVE ATHLETIC MARKET AFTER THREE YEARS OF PHENOMENAL GROWTH

LL International Shoe Co. Inc.'s ever-changing line of sneakers is giving the Los Angeles company a worldwide presence -- and creating a bit of an identity crisis.

Not satisfied with sales of 650,000 pairs of sneakers in 2000 -- its third year in business -- co-owners Lavetta Willis and Lantz Simpson want to become one of the few shoe companies ever to make the transition from urban fashion to athletic performance footwear.

Doing business as DaDa Footwear, the company just introduced its $120 SoleSonic Force running shoe and will introduce a $120 basketball version of the model in time for next February's NBA All-Star Game. By then, Willis, 35, and Simpson, 31, hope to have signed a pro player -- preferably one playing in the game -- to endorse the product. (The company does have a deal with one celebrity endorser -- rap star Snoop Dogg, whose urban brand name is on a line of $100 casual footwear that will be on the shelves in November.)

Thanks to deals with Venator Group Inc.'s Foot Locker, Footstar Inc.'s Footaction and Finish Line Inc., sales already have jumped from $4.1 million in 1998 to a projected $30 million this year.

"What we've done has been phenomenal," said Willis. "But it's not over by any means. I want to be that large athletic footwear company in the sky."

Willis got started in the sportswear business shortly after she began studying sports and entertainment law at Loyola University Law School.

She manufactured baseball caps with "Loyola Law" embroidered on the front for $5 each and sold thousands of them at $20 a piece. But her success at selling caps contrasted to the roadblocks encountered when she tried to break into the male-dominated world of sports law.

Sideline becomes focus

Ultimately, she took the advice of a sports agent who told her there was a lot of money to be made in apparel. After attending a trade show in Atlanta in 1992, Willis was hooked.

Law degree in hand, she founded Second Wind Inc. The company went belly up within two years, she said, because of production problems at the Korean manufacturing plant.

Willis and Simpson, a graphic and apparel designer, met through a mutual friend in 1995 when she was looking for a designer of T-shirt graphics at Second Wind. They struck a deal in which Willis helped Simpson with sales of his private line of apparel and he designed T-shirts and other apparel for her.

The two, who are now engaged to each other, then joined Kyarra Inspires Inc., a New York-based hat company, where they helped expand the product line into T-shirts, denims, sweatshirts and sweatpants.

Within two years, Willis and Simpson were ready to break off on their own. Having been guards on their respective Notre Dame University and Long Beach City College basketball teams, the couple leveraged themselves as businesspeople who know what should go into a sneaker.

"They are very innovative from a design standpoint," said Jason Short, who buys shoes for Indianapolis-based Finish Line's 445 stores nationwide. "Whether you're urban or suburban, particularly with young people, being unique is important. People get bored quickly."

Today, the company cranks out an average of six new models every three months, each designed by Simpson. So far, the basic leather sneaker, called "the Whip," holds the company record for longest shelf life, having been in stores since January 2000.

"The benefit to being the little guy is that you don't have so many layers of management of approval, which really slows you down," said Willis. "When we make a decision, we can get things to the market quickly."

The SoleSonic Force athletic shoe features a layer of polyurethane in the sole that supposedly never loses its cushion, retractable lace hooks that allow for additional tightening or an extra loose fit when the user wants to just slip them on without loosening the laces.

The heel contains four hard plastic "draulics" cushions to absorb shock, which is three times the body weight when running. The design has become a point of contention with the 900-pound-gorrilla of the industry, Nike Inc.

LL International claims that Nike employees were telling DaDa's customers that the SoleSonic Force was a rip-off of the technology used in the Portland-based sneaker titan's Shox line of sneakers.

A lawsuit filed in by DaDa in September 2000 alleging defamation and marketing interference is expected to be settled soon.

Leslye Mundy, director of global media relations for Nike, refused to comment on the case, citing a company policy against discussing current litigation.

While the urban fashion models have to date sold for less than $100, the athletic shoe will be the company's first foray into the world of $120 sneakers.

Spotlight

LL International Shoe Co. Inc.

Year Founded: 1998

Core Business: Manufacture and distribution of athletic and fashion sneakers

Revenue in 1998: $4.1 million

Revenue in 2000: $22.7 million

Revenue in 2001: $30 million (projected)

Employees in 1998: 10

Employees in 2000: 30

Employees in 2001: 39

Goal: To be known as a maker of shoes for athletic performance rather than simply urban fashion

Driving Force: Produce new lines of sneakers every six months for fickle teen-agers and 20-somethings