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Swear is a footwear brand created in London by entrepeneur Jose Neves. In 2000 Jose and brand manager Jorge Sampaio wanted to create a crossover shoe for a crossover generation. Tired of going to gigs and seeing cool young people wearing a mix of converse and vintage boots with their skinny jeans, they set out to design a sneaker-classic shoe hybrid that would look cool with tight jeans and t-shirt, a bold and minimal look of the early 00's, taken to the streets by garage rock revival bands such as The Strokes, White Stripes or The Hives.

Indeed, since its frantic inception Swear attracted the eye of a music and fashion forward crowd. Many indie artists and musicians have been spotted wearing Swear shoes. Among these, guys in such diverse acts such as Radiohead, Franz Ferdinand, Kings of Leon, Muse, Nouvelle Vague, The Teenagers, iliketrains, The Horrors, Bloc Party, Foals, Amazing Baby, The Big Pink, Queens of the Stone Age, Liars ... we say they all felt the noise of Swear.


Swear's original design, the 'DEAN' - a pointed shoe with distinctive rubber sole featuring the iconic James Dean "Rebel Without a Cause" graphic outsole, marked the brand's instantly recognizable Swear style of the 00's. Throughout the years, more than one hundred styles and a thousand different colour ways were designed. The Dean went on to represent the look of a subculture, selling in excess of 1 million pairs worldwide in the process, and establishing Swear as a cult brand worldwide.

From the US to Japan, UK to Russia, the Dean became the style of choice of a generation, available in the most prestigious destination and concept stores, including Collette Paris, Opening Ceremony NY, Fred Segal LA, Reborn Montreal, Eliminator Tokyo, Dmop Hong Kong, Gerard Loft Forence, Notenom Barcelona, Kron Kron Reykjavik, American Rag LA, United Arrows Tokyo... to name a few.

After 10 years of market the DEAN is now available exclusively from the Swear website.

In 2008, Swear launched its 'Greatest Hits: a cd-lookbook project' to commemorate the launch of its first 'Greatest Hits' collection of designs drawn from the success of a trio of popular groups: Dean, Jimmy and Grant.
Swear enlisted rock photographer Mattia Zopellaro (from Vice USA, Mojo and Rolling stone fame) to shoot 10 carefully selected bands from London for the AW08/09 lookbook featuring an iconic Swear style. Bands included London scenesters Vincent Vincent and The Villains, SCUM, Kasms, Comanechi, Dear Thief and long time favorites Part Chimp. Each band contributed 1 track for a promotional CD aptly titled 'Greatest Hits: Volume I', made available for free to Swear customers worldwide through distribution at a selection of 50 independent stores in the 5 continents. To top it all, on a Friday 13th in September 2008, Swear and media partner Vice magazine organized a gig at the Soho revue bar featuring live performances by Comanechi, Dear Thief and Striken city and dj sets by SCUM and Micron 63.



Fast forward to late 2009.

SWEAR set to grow as new creative team appointed to reposition the brand for Autumn Winter 2010.

Official Press release for Season AW09/10:

Footwear Brand Swear have appointed Dominic Webster as Creative Director to strengthen the men's and women's product offering and oversee the brands creative direction. Dominic has been working in the mens footwear industry for over 4 years, designing, developing and overseeing the growth of H by Hudson.
His appointment at Swear will oversee the existing design team: menswear designer Matthew Taylor, a recent Cordwainers student & womenswear designer Simona Citarella, previously of Dolce & Gabbana.
Synonymous with the casual hybrid shoe, Swear leads the contemporary fashion footwear market by continually playing with silhouettes and updating shoe traditions to compliment ever changing trends and fashion opinions. Swear constantly twists the footwear zeitgeist with its own idiosyncratic handwriting.
Swear intends to broaden its horizons by diversifying its product offering to introduce a different calibre of shoe, by using a more satirical approach to footwear design and boasting a more comprehensive range of new and exciting footwear for men and women.

The men’s collection remains heavily influenced by music and youth culture, reinterpreting classics while innovating in the use of lasts, materials and colour combinations. Whether its the vintage brogue, brothel creeper, high-top sneaker or lace-up military boot, Swear Men is a premium quality shoe with innovative design aesthetics at an accessible price point. The Women's capsule is reflected by boyfriend brogues and loafers, rubber soled hi-top sneakers and pointed brothel creepers, the women’s inspiration is very much driven by the men’s range. The result, a more coherent ladies collection and design direction, following the androgyny of practicality meets contemporary styling, whilst still keeping an element of femininity.