éS is a member of the Sole Technology group, the umbrella company for éS, Etnies and Emerica. Don Brown and Pierre Andre developed éS as a breakaway brand from Etnies – a chance to try something new. Big name skateboarders of the day (Koston, Muska, Penny) were relaxing, after a day of skating, in a more athletic styled shoe. This was the inspiration for éS, sophisticated, athletically styled and innovative, "éS encompasses the needs of skateboarders on and off the board".

The brand name was taken from the first and last letter in Etnies, with an accent over the 's' for emphasis and to show sophistication. In 1995 éS footwear launched; it satisfied the requirement for a new kind of skate shoe. éS is a brand which pushes at the edges of skate shoe design, it appeals to the core technical skateboarder.

The next step for Don Brown (éS head), was to begin putting together a team. Sal Barbier, Bob Burnquist, Ronnie Creager, Eric Koston, Chad Muska, Tom Penny and Paul Sharpe formed the original éS team. The first shoes to be released were the Accel, Sal 23 and SLB. Thanks to its clean, simple and functional design the Accel still remains the best selling éS shoe, it was the first skate shoe to feature a kevlar ollie pad. Endorsed and designed by Tom Penny it was in effect his own pro shoe. The Accel is a simple unpretentious design, it lacks modern day sophistication but this has not stopped it from standing the test of time.

The success of éS continued until the autumn of 2012 when there was an announcement that the company were taking a 'creative retreat'. This caused much shock within the skateboarding community. Much conjecture ensued as to why this had occurred; could they not compete with the non-skate brands which had flooded the market? However, the demand for éS did not diminish, particularly in Japan where there was a real love of the Accel. In November 2013 four colourways of the Accel were released in Japan; it rapidly became the country's number one shoe brand.

News spread to Europe and the US, a decision was made to launch an updated Accel model and two new shoes in February 2014. A new team has been assembled consisting of: Kelly Hart, Walker Ryan, Tom Asta and Ryan Lay. This year is the fifteen year celebration of éS, the brand continues to go from strength to strength...