The Athlete's Foot is a Force for Good in the Sneaker Industry

Darius Billings discusses The Athlete's Foot's impact on the sneaker industry.

The Athlete's Foot has had a major impact on the sneaker industry. / The Athlete's Foot

For more than 50 years, the Athlete's Foot has been a globally recognized brand in the footwear and apparel business and holds the distinction of being the first athletic footwear specialty store in the United States.

Presently, the Athlete's Foot has more than 550 stores in over 30 countries including Australia, Europe, Asia, Middle East and Latin America as it remains on the cutting edge of the apparel business.

Sports Illustrated spoke with Darius Billings VP, of Marketing and Community Engagement, at The Athlete's Foot about the brand’s vision to continue making its mark and his journey in the sneaker industry.

Do you remember when you first fell in love with sneakers?

"It was when I got the Air Jordan 3 Black Cement in 1988. I fell in love with them. I grew up in a town where I had to get East Bay magazine because we didn't have any sneaker stores that had them. I remember I was watching Yo! MTV Raps and Boogie Down Productions, “My Philosophy” video came on, and KRS-One he was wearing a pair.

They didn't have a swoosh or anything like that so I was at the mailbox every day waiting for my East Bay. When I got it, I cut grass and did what I had to do to get a pair (Laughed)."

When did you discover that your love of sneakers could be your life's work?

"I love sneakers but didn’t think there was a pathway for a career. I went to Howard University and they had the best career fairs where top Fortune 500 companies would come and recruit. In my senior year, Nike was there and I kept walking by the Nike booth. Then finally, I walked past that one more time, and there was no one talking to one of the reps.

I gave her my resume. As a student, I worked at Banana Republic and later that night, it was almost closing time. The Nike rep and two other reps that she was with came into the Banana Republic and they remembered me. I stayed in contact with her and two months after graduation, she said she had a position for me. That's what got me into the game and working for Nike right out of college."

You also worked at AND1 when the brand first took off. How did you connect them?

"I discovered AND1 through the trash talk T-shirts that I was seeing on the playground. Then I saw some job opportunities come out. Entry level at Nike back then wasn't the greatest pay but it was amazing to have that on your resume.

Once I saw that there were some opportunities with AND1, I felt that I could give more to a company at the time because Nike was an established big company. So I ended up leaving Nike and, and going to AND1 when everything began."

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Those classic AND1 Mixtapes and the tour brought streetball to the mainstream.

"Yes indeed. I was there when it was just beginning, in the playgrounds with players from New York and New Jersey. Then we branched off and got Hot Sauce from Atlanta, Aaron "AO" Owens from Philadelphia, Robin “Sik Wit It” Kennedy from LA, and we started making that group.

It was an amazing time. Back then, I was a retail marketing manager so we partnered with retailers to support the mixtape and the tour. The videos were the brainchild of my boy Set Free Richardson."

How did you end up at the Athlete’s Foot?

"After AND1, I worked on a startup in a different industry for about five or six years. We ended up selling that brand and I wanted to come back to the industry. By then, I moved down here to Atlanta and the opportunity came in 2008. I’ve been here ever since on the retail side of business."

What is your current role?

"I am the Vice President of Marketing and Community Engagement. On the retail side of the business, I get to work with a lot of different brands and on numerous initiatives. We work with streetwear brands, lifestyle brands, and apparel brands to complete the head-to-toe look for the consumer."

HBCU Signing Day. / The Athlete's Foot.

In June, the Athlete's Foot hosted an HBCU Signing Day. Tell us the vision behind the event?

"I'm a product of HBCU so it's something super personal. We always want to support what we believe in. This was our third year of doing the HBCU Signing Day. Those athletes who signed up to play  HBCUs don't always get the love they deserve like those who attend Duke or North Carolina.

So we came up with an HBCU Signing Day to celebrate them. The first year we had one student-athlete. We had media training for him and a whole press day for his family. This year we had five males and one female. And Women's basketball is on fire right now."

We also sponsor a basketball camp called HBCU Elite 100  that exposes some of these athletes to the great programs at HBCU. We also talk to them about life outside of being a player and still being connected to basketball in various roles when their playing careers are over.

Lastly, what else is coming up for the Athlete's Foot?

"We're launching our corporate store here in Atlanta with more information and our e-commerce platform. We have some big plans for the future."

Further Reading: The adidas AE 1 “Mural” is dropping on Anthony Edwards' birthday.