From ugly to healthy to hip: the journey of Birkenstock shoes
Birkenstock shoe
Let’s face it when I grew up in Germany, Birkenstock shoes were looked upon as an ugly shoes worn mostly by Green and alternative people with wide trousers. The socks worn with them were made of thick wool giving the whole thing not much sex appeal. Actually, my first girl friend wore Birkenstocks and she look cool with wide navyblue-white stripped trousers.
Functionality or sex appeal has been dominating shoe business before but the astonishing story of the Birkenstock shoe has changed that all.
The Birkenstock family has apparently not withered nor hesitated with their course and their recent acceptance in the world of fashion has made them really successful. Within the last 30-40 years this ugly shoe is both revered as healthy and trendy. Celebrities like Leonardo di Caprio wear them and those socks I just mentioned made it to the front line of European fashion design when the label Dsquared put them on the catwalk for men wearing Birkenstocks with them.
Birkenstock has a long history attesting to the strength of their idea. A church record shows that Mr. Johann Adam Birkenstock registered himself in 1772 as a shoemaker in Germany. By 1896 Mr. Konrad Birkenstock owned two shoe specialty stores in Frankfurt, Germany and was starting to produce footbed insoles. That is the key term, the footbed sole. That is unique to Birkenstock shoes and lets their shoes appear a little too big and a little bit too awkward. It kind of breaks the line of fashion design because it does not fit in with the apparel.
So leave alone the appearance of the Birkenstocks and just try one. They feel very comfortable and have helped me to get over some ailments that I incurred during my workouts and jogging. Today I own 3 pairs of Birkenstock and they have been part of my wardrobe for a while now. Yet, I admit, when I wear them for work in my fashion company, two female colleagues greet me with a smile…
Birkenstock is not just a product but a European idea that has lived through dedication and consistency. That’s what I like about them too. An in addition, when they upgraded their footbed production they did this with a view on environmental protection and power consumption had been reduced by over 90%. This is another European idea: long before the term sustainability ever became en vogue, they did it already.