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UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM 10-K

Commission file Number     0-18490

K•SWISS INC.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

Registrant’s telephone number, including area code    (818) 706-5100

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act:

Class A Common Stock, par value $0.01 per share

(Title of class)

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant: (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the Registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days.    x  Yes    ¨  No

Indicate by check mark if disclosure of delinquent filers pursuant to Item 405 of Regulation S-K is not contained herein, and will not be contained, to the best of Registrant’s knowledge, in definitive proxy or information statements incorporated by reference in Part III of this Form 10-K or any amendment to this Form 10-K.    ¨

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is an accelerated filer (as defined in Exchange Act Rule 12b-2).    x  Yes    ¨  No

The aggregate market value of the Class A Common Stock of the Registrant held by non-affiliates of the registrant as of June 30, 2003, the last business day of the registrant’s most recently completed second fiscal quarter, based on the closing price of the Class A Common Stock on the Nasdaq National Market on such date was $436,406,466.

The number of shares of the Registrant’s Class A Common Stock outstanding at February 4, 2004 was 26,917,363 shares. The number of shares of the Registrant’s Class B Common Stock outstanding at February 4, 2004 was 8,532,734 shares.

DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE

Portions of the proxy statement for the Registrant’s 2004 Annual Stockholders Meeting are incorporated by reference into Part III.

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K•SWISS INC.

INDEX TO ANNUAL REPORT ON FORM 10-K

FOR THE FISCAL YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2003

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PART I

Company History and General Strategy

K•Swiss Inc. designs, develops and markets an array of athletic footwear for high performance sports use, fitness activities and casual wear under the K•Swiss brand. We also design and manufacture footwear under the Royal Elastics brand. Royal Elastics, a wholly owned subsidiary, is a leading innovator of slip-on, laceless footwear. Sales of Royal Elastics brand was not significant during 2003.

K•Swiss was founded in 1966 by two Swiss brothers, who introduced one of the first leather tennis shoes in the United States. The shoe, the K•Swiss “Classic,” has remained relatively unchanged from its original design, and accounts for a significant portion of our sales. The Classic has evolved from a high-performance shoe into a casual, lifestyle shoe. We have emphasized in our marketing the commitment to produce products of high quality and enduring style and we plan to continue to emphasize the high quality and classic design of our products as we introduce new models of athletic footwear.

On December 30, 1986, K•Swiss was purchased by an investment group led by our current President. Thereafter we recruited experienced management and reduced manufacturing costs by increasing offshore production and entering into new, lower cost purchasing arrangements. Our products are manufactured to our specifications by overseas suppliers predominately in China. In June 1991 and September 1992, we established operations in Taiwan and Europe to broaden our distribution on a global scale.

In May 2001, we formed a joint venture to license, produce and market a men’s, women’s and children’s collection of National Geographic outdoor-oriented and casual footwear. In the fourth quarter of 2003, we agreed with National Geographic to end our licensing agreement. Operations of the National Geographic brand have been accounted for and shown as a discontinued operation in the accompanying financial information.

In November 2001, we acquired the worldwide rights and business of Royal Elastics (“Royal”), an Australian-based designer and manufacturer of elasticated footwear. The purchase excludes distribution rights in Australia, which were retained by Royal Management Pty, Ltd.

The discussion during the remainder of this Item 1., other than backlog, trademarks and patents, and employees, relates solely to the K•Swiss brand.

K•Swiss was organized under the laws of the State of Delaware on April 16, 1990. The Company is successor in interest to K•Swiss Inc., a Massachusetts corporation, which in turn was successor in interest to K•Swiss Inc., a California corporation. Unless the context otherwise indicates, the terms “we,” “us,” “K•Swiss” and the “Company” as used herein refers to K•Swiss Inc. and its consolidated subsidiaries.

Products

Our product strategy is two pronged. The first combines classic styling with high quality components and technical features designed to meet performance requirements of specific sports. We endeavor to use classic styling to reduce the impact of changes in consumer preferences as we believe that this strategy leads to longer product life cycles than are typical of the products of certain of our competitors. We believe that long product life cycles reduce total markdowns over the life of the

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products, thereby enhancing their attractiveness to retailers. This strategy also enables us to maintain inventory with less risk of obsolescence than is typical of more fashion-oriented products. The second product strategy uses fashion-oriented footwear sold principally on a futures only basis usually with little or no planned inventory position taken on these products. This strategy allows us to take advantage of trends in the marketplace that we identify while attempting to minimize the risk generally associated with this type of product.

Presently, we compete in the Classic category (casual), training, tennis and children’s footwear. Each product category has certain styles designated as core products. Our core products offer style continuity and often include on-going improvement. We believe our core product program is a critical factor in attempting to achieve our goal of becoming the “retailers’ most profitable vendor.” The core program tends to minimize retailers’ markdowns and maximizes the effectiveness of marketing expenditures because of longer product life cycles.

The following table summarizes our K•Swiss brand footwear into categories and sets forth the approximate contribution to revenues (in dollars and as a percentage of revenues) attributable to each footwear category for the periods indicated. All footwear categories come in both men’s (approximately 49% of 2003 revenues) and women’s (approximately 31% of 2003 revenues). Most styles within each footwear category are offered in men’s, women’s and children’s.

Footwear

Our product line through 1987 was primarily the Classic. The Classic was originally developed in 1966 as a high-performance tennis shoe. Since that time, the Classic has become a popular casual shoe. The upper of the Classic includes only three separate pieces of leather, which allows for a relatively simple manufacturing process and yields a product with few seams. This simple construction improves the shoe’s comfort, fit and durability. We have from time to time incorporated certain technical advances in materials and construction, but the Classic has remained relatively unchanged in style since 1966. In 2000, we launched Classic Luxury Edition, which sells for slightly more than the original version.

The Classic, fueled by new products, has evolved into a category of shoes referred to as the Classic category. The Classic category is comprised of the Classic original, as described above, and its derivatives, and other casual athletic styles.

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The Classic originals segment contains shoes that we intend to carry in our product assortment for several years. They generally have shoe characteristics such as d-rings and five stripes, and, because they are multiple season shoes, we maintain significant inventory positions of this segment. Significant inventory positions allow for effective EDI programs with retailers that fit into our strategy of attempting to become the retailers’ most profitable vendor. The other casual athletic styles category includes the K-S Collection which comprises shoes offered for several seasons and they generally do not contain d-rings and have diffused or no stripes. Sometimes inventory is maintained on these products. Other casual athletic styles also includes the Limited Edition segment which is generally meant as a one-season offering. They are generally fashionable type shoes that are purchased from factories based only on futures orders received from retailers.

In 2000, we entered the training performance category. To further differentiate the line of shoes from our competitors, we created distinct segments: Speed, Strength and Endurance. The speed shoes compete with moderately priced running shoes, while strength shoes compete with moderately priced cross training shoes.

Apparel and Accessories

We market a limited line of K•Swiss branded apparel and accessories. The products are designed with the same classic strategies used in the footwear line. Classic styling allows us to appeal to a variety of new markets from an urban distribution to an upscale suburban consumer. The products represent high quality with an exceptional value.

In 1999, we introduced a new 7.0 line of high tech tennis apparel to complement our performance 7.0 footwear. The product line consists of world-class apparel (skirts, shorts, tops, polo’s, dresses and warm-ups) for both men and women. We also offer a collection for the casual athletic consumer consisting of tee shirts, caps, socks and bags.

The apparel line is distributed through the large chain sporting goods stores as well as independent shoe and sporting goods dealers nationwide. The tennis apparel line is sold primarily through tennis specialty and tennis pro shops. It also offers us visible promotional opportunities.

Sales

We sell our products in the United States through our sales executives, and independent sales representatives primarily to a limited number of specialty athletic footwear stores, pro shops, sporting good stores and department stores. We also sell through our website which is becoming increasingly important to us particularly in light of our limited distribution. We also sell our products to a number of foreign distributors. We now have sales offices or distributors throughout the world. In 1992, we established sales offices and now have appointed exclusive distributors in much of Europe.

Financial information relating to international and domestic operations is presented as part of Item 8 of this report. See Note N to our Consolidated Financial Statements.

Marketing

Advertising and Promotion

We believe that our strategy of designing products with longer life cycles and introducing fewer new models relative to our competition enhances the effectiveness of our advertising and promotions.

In 2003, we used television as our largest single marketing expenditure. The campaign was run primarily on network and cable television, and was supported by several sports, music and general interest/fashion magazines.

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Advertising and promotion efforts in foreign markets are directed by local distributors. Our agreements with foreign distributors generally require such distributors to spend a certain percentage of their sales of our products on advertising and promotion. We control the nature and content of these promotions.

Domestic Marketing

Our current marketing strategy emphasizes distribution to retailers whose marketing strategies are consistent with our reputation for quality and service.

Our footwear products are sold domestically through approximately 40 independent regional sales representatives and 11 Company-employed sales managers. The independent sales representatives are paid on a commission basis, and are prohibited by contract from representing other brands of athletic footwear and related products. These representatives sold to approximately 3,000, 2,900 and 2,900 separate accounts as of December 31, 2003, 2002 and 2001.

During 2003, the Foot Locker group of stores and affiliates accounted for approximately 29% of domestic revenues. See Note K to our Consolidated Financial Statements. No other customer accounted for more than 10% of total revenues during this period.

We offer a “futures” program, under which retailers are offered discounts on orders scheduled for delivery more than five months after the order is made. There is no guarantee that such orders will not be canceled prior to acceptance by the customer. This program is similar to programs offered by other athletic shoe companies. The futures program has a positive effect on inventory costs, planning and production scheduling. See “Distribution.” In addition, we engage in certain sales programs from time to time that provide for extended terms on initial domestic orders of new styles.

We maintain a customer service department consisting of 17 persons at our Westlake Village, California facility. The customer service department accepts orders for our products, handles inquiries and notifies retailers of the status of their orders. We have made a substantial investment in computer equipment for general customer support and service, as well as for distribution. See “Distribution.”

In 1999, seeking to expand the brand’s reach, provide product distribution to consumers that do not otherwise have the ability to purchase our products and to take advantage of the new advances in technology and the internet, we initiated an effort to better utilize the internet and the World Wide Web. The approach was two pronged. The K•Swiss website (www.kswiss.com) was enhanced and is visually integrated with the current television campaign. The second part of the strategy led to the creation of a new entity called K•Swiss Direct. K•Swiss Direct’s function is to provide the end consumers an alternate method of acquiring our products when they cannot find the product in their local retail outlets or do not have reasonable access to retail outlets carrying the product. Using the internet, consumers can purchase select footwear and apparel, at prices competitive with our retailers, and have it shipped directly to them.

International Marketing

In 1991, we established a sales management team in Asia. We have exclusive distributors in certain Pacific Rim countries. Exclusive distributors of our products are generally contractually obligated to spend specific amounts on advertising and promotion of our products. We have also established exclusive distributors in other international markets.

To expand the marketing of our products into Europe, we opened our own office in the Netherlands in 1992.

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By the end of 2003, K•Swiss was working through 6 international subsidiaries and 16 distributors to market K•Swiss products in potentially 49 countries.

Distribution

During December 1997, we relocated our distribution facility. We now maintain 371,000 square feet of warehouse space at two leased facilities in Mira Loma, California. See “Item 2. Properties.”

We purchase footwear from independent manufacturers located predominantly in China. The time required to fill new orders placed by us with our manufacturers is approximately five months. Such footwear is generally shipped in ocean containers and delivered to our facility in California. In some cases, large customers may receive containers of footwear directly from the manufacturer. Distribution to European and certain other distributors is based out of the Netherlands office public distribution facility. We generally arrange shipment of other international orders directly from our independent manufacturers.

We maintain an open-stock inventory on certain products which permits us to ship to retailers on an “at once” basis in response to orders placed by mail, fax, toll-free telephone call or electronically. We have made a significant investment in computer equipment that provides on-line capability to determine open-stock availability for shipment. Additionally, products can be ordered under our “futures” program. See “Marketing—Domestic Marketing.” We ship by package express or truck from California, depending upon size of order, customer location and availability of inventory.

Product Design and Development

We maintain offices in Westlake Village, California and Taichung, Taiwan that include a staff of individuals responsible for the design and development of new styles for all global regions. This staff receives guidance from our management team in California, who meet regularly to review sales, consumer and market trends.

Manufacturing

In 2003, approximately 99% of our footwear products were manufactured in China and 1% in Taiwan. Although we have no long-term manufacturing agreements and compete with other athletic shoe companies for production facilities (including companies that are much larger than us), we believe that our relationships with our footwear producers are satisfactory and that we have the ability to develop, over time, alternative sources for our footwear. Our operations, however, could be materially and adversely affected if a substantial delay occurred in locating and obtaining alternative producers.

All manufacturing of footwear is performed in accordance with detailed specifications furnished by us and is subject to quality control standards, and we retain the right to reject products that do not meet specifications. The bulk of all raw materials used in such production are purchased by manufacturers at our direction. Our inspectors at the manufacturing facilities test and inspect footwear products prior to shipment from those facilities.

During 2003, our apparel and accessory products were manufactured in Macau, China, Thailand, Taiwan, Korea, Pakistan and the United States by certain manufacturers selected by us.

Our operations are subject to compliance with relevant laws and regulations enforced by the United States Customs Service and to the customary risks of doing business abroad, including fluctuations in the value of currencies, increases in customs duties and related fees resulting from position changes by the United States Customs Service, import controls and trade barriers (including

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the unilateral imposition of import quotas), restrictions on the transfer of funds, work stoppages and, in certain parts of the world, political instability causing disruption of trade. These factors have not had a material adverse impact upon our operations to date. Imports into the United States are also affected by the cost of transportation, the imposition of import duties, and increased competition from greater production demands abroad. The United States or the countries in which our products are manufactured may, from time to time, impose new quotas, duties, tariffs or other restrictions, or adjust presently prevailing quotas, duty or tariff levels, which could affect our operations and ability to import products at current or increased levels. We cannot predict the likelihood or frequency of any such events occurring. A change in any such duties, quotas or restrictions could result in increases in the costs of such products generally and might adversely affect the sales or profitability of K•Swiss and the athletic footwear industry as a whole.

Our use of common elements in raw materials, lasts and dies gives flexibility to duplicate sourcing in various countries in order to reduce the risk that we may not be able to obtain products from a particular country.

Our footwear products are subject to the United States customs duties which range from 8.5% to 10.0% on footwear made principally of leather to duties on synthetic footwear ranging from 6.0% to 20.0% plus, for certain styles, $0.90 per pair and duties on moderately priced textile footwear of 20.0% plus, for certain styles, $0.90 per pair. Currently, approximately 97% of our footwear volume is derived from sales of leather footwear and approximately 3% of our footwear volume is derived from sales of synthetic and textile footwear.

A large portion of our imported products are manufactured in the People’s Republic of China (“China”). As a result of a previous dispute with China over the protection of intellectual property rights, the United States Trade Representative (“USTR”) is currently monitoring China’s adherence to a bilateral agreement with the United States to enforce intellectual property protections within China. In addition, recent concerns with China’s alleged failure to protect intellectual property rights and to comply with other commitments made as part of its accession to the World Trade Organization (“WTO”) have caused the U.S. government to indicate that it would consider filing a case against China in the WTO if China does not more readily fulfill its obligations. If the U.S. government takes action against China, the result of that action could, among other things, include the imposition of trade sanctions that could affect the ability of the Company to continue to import products from China.

Backlog

At December 31, 2003 and 2002, total futures orders with start ship dates from January through June 2004 and 2003 were approximately $224,863,000 and $168,449,000, respectively, an increase of 33.5%. The 33.5% increase in total futures orders is comprised of a 40.8% increase in the first quarter 2004 futures orders and a 22.8% increase in the second quarter 2004 futures orders. At December 31, 2003 and 2002, domestic futures orders with start ship dates from January through June 2004 and 2003 were approximately $193,390,000 and $147,421,000, respectively, an increase of 31.2%. At December 31, 2003 and 2002, international futures orders with start ship dates from January through June 2004 and 2003 were approximately $31,473,000 and $21,028,000, respectively, an increase of 49.7%. “Backlog,” as of any date, represents orders scheduled to be shipped within the next six months. Backlog does not include orders scheduled to be shipped on or prior to the date of determination of backlog.

The mix of “futures” and “at once” orders can vary significantly from quarter to quarter and year to year and therefore “futures” are not necessarily indicative of revenues for subsequent periods. Orders generally may be canceled by customers without financial penalty. We believe our rate of net customer cancellations of domestic orders approximates industry averages for similar companies. Customers

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may also reject nonconforming goods. To date, we believe we have not experienced returns of our products or bad debts of customers materially in excess of industry averages for similar companies.

Competition

The athletic footwear industry is highly competitive. The largest marketers of footwear are Nike, adidas and Reebok. Each of these companies has substantially greater financial, distribution and marketing resources as well as greater brand awareness than us.

We have recently increased our emphasis on product lines beyond our Classic model. In the past, we have introduced products in such highly competitive categories such as court, boating, outdoor and children’s shoes. See “Products.” There can be no assurance that we will penetrate these or other new markets or increase the market share we have established to date.

The principal elements of competition in the athletic footwear market include brand awareness, product quality, design, pricing, fashion appeal, marketing, distribution, performance and brand positioning. Our products compete primarily on the basis of technological innovations, quality, style, and brand awareness among consumers. While we believe that our competitive strategy has resulted in increased brand awareness and market share, there can be no assurance that we will be able to retain or increase our market share or respond to changing consumer preferences.

Trademarks and Patents

We utilize trademarks on all our products and believe that our products are more marketable on a long-term basis when identified with distinctive markings. K•Swiss^® is a registered trademark in the United States and certain other countries. Our name is not registered as a trademark in certain countries because of restrictions on registering names having geographic connotations. However, since K•Swiss is not a geographic name, we have often secured registrations despite such objections. Our shield emblem and the five-stripe design are also registered in the United States and certain foreign countries. The five-stripe design is not presently registered in some countries because it has been deemed ornamental by regulatory authorities. We selectively seek to register the names of our shoes, logos and the names given to certain of our technical and performance innovations, including Aosta^® rubber and Silicone Formula 18^®. The ROYAL ELASTICS and Fleur de Lis trademarks used on ROYAL ELASTICS products are registered in many countries. Both marks are registered in the United States. We have obtained patents in the United States regarding the Bio Feedback^® ankle support system, the Shock Spring^® cushioning system incorporated into K•Swiss’ 7.0 System^® performance tennis shoes and training line, the D.R. Cinch System^®, the stability design incorporated into the Si-18^® tennis shoe, and other features. We vigorously defend our trademarks and patent rights against infringement worldwide and employ independent security consultants to assist in such protection. To date, we are not aware of any significant counterfeiting problems regarding our products.

Employees

At December 31, 2003, we employed 225 persons in the United States, 156 persons in Taiwan and China, 53 persons in the United Kingdom, Germany and the Netherlands and 8 persons elsewhere.

Available Information

K•Swiss’ Internet address is www.kswiss.com. Beginning from at least November 15, 2002, we have made available free of charge on or through our Internet website our annual report on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K, and amendments to those reports filed or

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furnished pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Exchange Act as soon as reasonably practicable after such material was electronically filed with, or furnished to, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“S.E.C.”). Materials K•Swiss files with the S.E.C. may be read and copied at the S.E.C.’s Public Reference Room at 450 Fifth Street, NW, Washington, D.C. 20549. This information may also be obtained by calling the S.E.C at 1-800-SEC-0330. The S.E.C. also maintains an internet website that contains reports, proxy and information statements, and other information regarding issuers that file electronically with the S.E.C. at www.sec.gov. The Company will provide a copy of any of the foregoing documents to stockholders upon request.

In August 1998, we moved into our new headquarters facility in Westlake Village, California. This facility, which is owned by us, is approximately 50,000 square feet. We occupy approximately sixty percent of this facility and lease the remaining portion.

We lease a 309,000 square foot distribution facility in Mira Loma, California. This lease expires in January 2007, subject to one option, which would extend the term of the lease for three years. We use the Mira Loma facility as our main distribution center. The effective monthly commitment for this facility is approximately $82,000.

The Company is, from time to time, a party to litigation which arises in the normal course of our business operations. We do not believe that we are presently a party to litigation which will have a material adverse effect on our business or operations.

On December 11, 2003, a special meeting of stockholders of K•Swiss was held to approve amendments to K•Swiss’ Restated Certificate of Incorporation to increase the number of shares of Class A Common Stock which K•Swiss is authorized to issue from 36,000,000 to 90,000,000 and to increase the number of shares of Class B Common Stock which K•Swiss is authorized to issue from 10,000,000 to 18,000,000, thereby increasing the total number of shares of Common Stock which K•Swiss is authorized to issue from 46,000,000 to 108,000,000. Of the 11,727,665 shares of Class A Common Stock and the 4,340,367 shares of Class B Common Stock represented at the meeting, the amendments were approved by the following votes (pre-split):

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PART II

K•Swiss Inc.’s Class A Common Stock began trading June 4, 1990 on the National Market System maintained by the National Association of Securities Dealers (now the Nasdaq National Market) upon completion of our initial public offering. Per share high and low sales prices (in dollars) for the quarterly periods during 2003 and 2002 as reported by Nasdaq were as follows:

We announced on December 11, 2003 that our Board of Directors approved a two-for-one stock split for both Class A and Class B Common Stock. This stock split was in the form of a 100 percent stock dividend that was distributed on December 26, 2003 to stockholders of record at the close of business on December 22, 2003. The high and low sales prices above have been restated to reflect the effect of this two-for-one stock split.

The Class A Common Stock is listed on the Nasdaq National Market under the symbol KSWS.

The number of stockholders of record of the Class A Common Stock on December 31, 2003 was 95. However, based on available information, we believe that the total number of Class A Common stockholders, including beneficial stockholders, is approximately 8,350.

There is currently no established public trading market for our Class B Common Stock. The number of stockholders of record of the Class B Common Stock on December 31, 2003 was 11.

Dividend Policy

We announced on February 16, 1994 that our Board of Directors was initiating a cash dividend program payable at an annual rate of 1 cent per common share. On February 8, 1999, we announced an increase in the cash dividend per share to an annual rate of 1.5 cents per common share. The Board declared quarterly dividends of 0.375 cents per share to stockholders of record as of the close of business on the last day of each quarter in 2001 and for the first quarter of 2002. The Board declared quarterly dividends of 0.5 cents per share to stockholders of record as of the close of business on the last day of the second quarter of 2002 through the second quarter of 2003. The Board a declared quarterly dividend of 1 cent per share to stockholders of record as of the close of business on the last day of the third quarter of 2003. The Board declared a quarterly dividend of 2 cents per share to stockholders of record as of the close of business on the last day of the fourth quarter of 2003. The payment of any future dividends will be at the discretion of our Board of Directors and will depend upon, among other things, future earnings, operations, capital requirements, our general financial condition and general business conditions. We are currently limited in the extent to which we are able to pay dividends under our revolving credit agreement. See Note D to our Consolidated Financial Statements.

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Securities Authorized for Issuance Under Equity Compensation Plans

The following table provides information with respect to compensation plans (including individual compensation arrangements) under which equity securities of K•Swiss are authorized for issuance to employees or non-employees (such as directors, consultants, advisors, vendors, customers, suppliers or lenders), as of December 31, 2003:

Purchases of Equity Securities

The following table provides information with respect to purchases made by K•Swiss of K•Swiss Class A Common Stock during the fourth quarter of 2003:

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The selected consolidated financial data presented below for each of the five years in the period ended December 31, 2003 have been derived from audited financial statements which for the most recent three years appear elsewhere herein. The data presented below should be read in conjunction with such financial statements, including the related notes thereto and the other information included herein. Prior year data has been restated to reflect the National Geographic brand as a discontinued operation in order to conform to the selected financial data for December 31, 2003.