The K-Way brand was born in 1965, in Paris. During a day of bad weather, the clothing merchant Léon-Claude Duhamel observed passers-way bundled up in heavy rain clothes, with his hands occupied to hold uncomfortable umbrellas. Here the invention: a rainproof object to keep always with you, but that is not an umbrella nor a raincoat. The result is a revolutionary jacket made of nylon that does not crease, it is also light, comfortable and perfectly waterproof, which, in good weather, folds into a practical pouch pocket and binds around the waist.
The practicality of K-Way garments is extreme: they have a hood, pockets, buttons or heat-sealed zip. The name K-Way comes from the right mix between the French request to call it "En cas de" (in the case of) and the American cut that you wanted to give to the clothing items of the time to optimize the commercial aspect, where the "K" recalls the sound of "cas", while "way" was the American touch necessary to make it interessant on the market.
The product was immediately launched on the French market and the first year of marketing was a boom in sold parts and partnerships between the K-Way brand and various ski teams born. The 90s saw a strong decline of the brand, which was bought by Pirelli for a relaunch, but without success.
The real change came with Marco Boglione, owner of other brands, such as Robe di Kappa and Superga, which in 2004 took over the brand, making it join the BaiscNet group, a listed holding company that deals with the revival of Italian clothing brands, providing product analysis and development services. It was in that moment that arrived the new 2.0 and 3.0 models, co-branding with Marc Jacobs, Versus Versace and Italia Independent but also with avant-garde fashion stores, such as Colette and L'Eclaireur in Paris.