The BIRKENSTOCK brand is built on a wide-reaching history of partnerships, bringing together individuals and materials to make footwear as nature intended.
A FATHER-SON SOLE CONNECTION
From the early 1920s, Carl Birkenstock (b. 1900) worked tirelessly to organize and develop his father Konrad’s ideas. After World War II, Carl moved with his wife and three children to the town of Bad Honnef, close to Bonn. He took the business with him with plans to open a plant in Bad Honnef with a monthly production of up to 10,000 pairs of insoles for any and all “persons with podiatric complaints”.
In 1954, Carl was joined in the family business by his son Karl (b. 1936), who was keen on pushing the orthopedic innovations developed by his grandfather Konrad even further. This led him to come up with the ‘Original BIRKENSTOCK-Fußbett Sandale’, known today as the MADRID.
BIRKENSTOCK continued as a father-son operation into the next generation. In 2002, Karl retired and left control of the company to Stephan, Christian and Alex. BIRKENSTOCK remained in the hands of the three brothers until 2012.
Carl Birkenstock.
Footbed packaging sketch.
Catalog, 1977.
AS NATURE INTENDED
The changing lifestyle of the 20th century meant people had more leisure time, much of which was spent at home. Konrad was intent on developing orthopedic shoes that supported the natural shape of the foot, and spent more than a decade developing his flexible insoles suited to everyday comfort. In the years that followed, his designs only improved.
His Fußbett design from 1909 were constructed out of cardboard, mixed with tar or with rubber, and later parts cork and plastic were added to decrease the weight of the insole itself. Later, in the 1960s, molded cork and latex soles helped increase durability and flexibility. “He spent 12 years searching for the perfect, flexible material,” notes historian Andrea H. Schneider-Braunberger.
Today, the cork used in BIRKENSTOCK footbeds is sourced largely from Portugal, where the bark layer is stripped from cork oaks by hand, in a process that can be repeated over the years without harming the tree. “Some 90% of our materials are sourced from Europe,” says BIRKENSTOCK’s Chief Product Officer, Markus Baum. “If there’s an issue, we want to be able to reach our suppliers within a day.”
If there’s an issue, we want to be able to reach our suppliers within a day.
LUXURY FROM THE GROUND UP
1774 Collection IV Lookbook.
The launch of BIRKENSTOCK’s high-end range, 1774, was a bold step forward for the brand, securing its foothold in global fashion. Named for the year that Birkenstock family’s shoemaking tradition can be traced back to,1774 established a stable brand presence at the higher end of the footwear market. It was also imagined as a means to showcase the potential of the footbed beyond the classic sandal designs.
1774 Collection IV Lookbook.
1774 launched at the Frieze Art Fair in Los Angeles in 2020, with some of the brand’s most iconic sandal designs reimagined in vivid shades of blue, yellow, and green. An office-cum-showroom was opened among the glamorous boutiques on the Rue Saint-Honoré in Paris, envisioned by CEO Olivier Reichert as a space from which to harness “the city’s global creative energy.”
SUPPORT FROM HEAD TO TOE
Having achieved its vision of combining form and function in footwear, BIRKENSTOCK turned its attention to the rest of the body. The first BIRKENSTOCK Sleeping Systems were unveiled in 2017 at the Internationale Möbelmesse furniture fair in Cologne during 2017, a result of the collaboration between BIRKENSTOCK and Austrian mattress manufacturer, ADA. The two companies pooled their knowledge of ergonomic engineering to create a range of premium-quality slatted frames and elastic mattresses, each with a functional design that remained close to BIRKENSTOCK’s design ethos. The beds are made using BIRKENSTOCK’s signature mix of granulated cork and natural latex to provide optimal support for not just the feet, but the entire body.
DRAWING FROM THE BEST
Though a family business, bringing together generations behind a shared vision, BIRKENSTOCK has never shied from collaboration – including with some unexpected partners.
By the early 2000s, BIRKENSTOCK sandals were an established fixture on the modish, bohemian end of the fashion spectrum. Intent on pursuing more glossy, high-fashion credentials, the company’s German headquarters teamed up with supermodel Heidi Klum to design a bespoke range for the brand. Her first collection in 2003 included a studded black and white ARIZONA, a bejeweled cowskin AMSTERDAM, and a distressed denim MADRID. Each retailed for a price point higher than the average BIRKENSTOCK and were positioned at upmarket retailers including Saks Fifth Avenue and Parisian Inc.
The collaboration continued until 2008, with Klum creating a new range every year. Each represented a departure from BIRKENSTOCK’s signature earthy tones and pared-back aesthetic, with Klum putting her own maximalist spin on the sandals using animal prints, gemstones and faux fur.
BIRKENSTOCK x 032c Lookbook.
More recent collaborations have seen Valentino, Dior, Manolo Blahnik and other design leaders, like 032c magazine, create innovative, sometimes blingy versions of the BOSTON, ARIZONA, and MILANO sandals, often selling out within days. “We may appear very different on the outside, but our ethos and core values are absolutely aligned,” said Blahnik, as his team began to collaborate with BIRKENSTOCK in the 2020s. “Timeless designs made by the best artisans in the world who focus on comfort and beauty.”
