About us
WHO WE ARE
BIRKENSTOCK is a revered global brand rooted in function, quality and tradition dating back to 1774. We are guided by a simple, yet fundamental insight: human beings are intended to walk barefoot on natural, yielding ground, a concept we refer to as “Naturgewolltes Gehen.” Our purpose is to empower all people to walk as intended by nature. The legendary BIRKENSTOCK footbed represents the best alternative to walking barefoot, encouraging proper foot health by evenly distributing weight and reducing pressure points and friction. We believe our function-first approach is universally relevant; all humans — anywhere and everywhere — deserve to walk in our footbed.
From this insight, we have developed a broad, unisex portfolio of footbed-based products, anchored by our iconic Core Silhouettes, the Madrid, Arizona, Boston, Gizeh and Mayari. While these silhouettes drive consistent, high-visibility revenues and represent a significant portion of our overall business, we also continuously expand our extensive archive of over 700 silhouettes by extending our existing silhouettes and launching new styles. This expands our reach across price points, usage occasions and product categories. We incorporate distinctive design elements and develop new materials to create newness while staying true to our heritage and uncompromising quality standards.
We are German made. Our production capabilities reflect centuries-old traditions of craftsmanship and commitment to using only the highest quality materials. To ensure each product meets our rigorous quality standards, we operate a vertically integrated manufacturing base and produce all our footbeds in Germany. In addition, we assemble over 95% of our products in Germany and produce the remainder elsewhere in the EU. We maintain strict control over our entire supply chain, responsibly sourcing materials that originate mainly from Europe.
What We Stand For
Our core values of Function, Quality and Tradition influence everything we do and underpin our brand’s deep cultural relevance that has stood the test of time. For decades, BIRKENSTOCK has attracted independent thinkers and transcended prevailing style norms, remaining committed to our values, even as the global zeitgeist has evolved around and moved toward us.
In the 1960s and 1970s, the global peace movement and hippies adopted BIRKENSTOCK, wearing our Madrid, Arizona and Boston, as part of their celebration of freedom and free-spiritedness. In the 1980s, the green movement adopted BIRKENSTOCK, proudly wearing our products for our ethical approaches to production and consumption. In the 1990s, inspired by the feminism movement, more women wore BIRKENSTOCKs to free themselves from long-standing fashion norms that required wearing painful high heels and other constricting footwear.
Today, consumers turn to BIRKENSTOCK in their search for healthy, high-quality products and as a rejection of formal dress culture. By remaining true to our values of Function, Quality and Tradition, BIRKENSTOCK has endured across generations
The Footbed That Redefines Walking
Our proprietary footbed — the result of successive innovations, beginning in the late 19th century with the invention of the contoured shoe last, which reflects the anatomy of the human foot — represents the foundation of our brand and products. The functional nature of and growing usage occasions for BIRKENSTOCK products enable the universality of our brand, allowing us to serve every human regardless of geography, gender, age and income. At its core, the BIRKENSTOCK footbed promotes “Naturgewolltes Gehen”:
Every foot employs 26 bones, 33 muscles and over 100 tendons and ligaments in walking. Improper footwear can cause friction, pain, injury and poor posture, among other ailments. Our anatomically shaped BIRKENSTOCK footbed provides natural support and stimulation, promoting even weight distribution, fully supported arches and no unnatural pressure points from heel to toe. Orthopedic theory suggests the benefits of walking barefoot on natural yielding ground are far reaching, including pain reduction in the foot and throughout the body, improved mobility, and natural posture, since the foot is kept in its natural state. By mimicking the effects of natural yielding ground (“footprint in the sand”), the “System Birkenstock” leans on the benefits of this phenomenon, attempting to enable walking as intended by nature. The inherent functionality of our products enables BIRKENSTOCK to serve a distinct purpose for consumers.
Built to Last
We believe how things are made matters as much as the product itself. We build BIRKENSTOCK products to be long-lasting, durable and repairable, a distinctive approach in the market today. We never compromise on material quality; for example, our uppers are made of leathers of the highest quality (i.e., 2.8-3.0 mm thick leather, sourced from European tanneries). We source over 90% of our materials and components from Europe, processing our inputs to the highest environmental and social standards in the industry by operating state-of-the-art scientific laboratories for materials testing. Furthermore, by vertically integrating our manufacturing operations in the EU — one of the safest and most regulated manufacturing environments in the world — we maintain a high degree of control over the quality and craftsmanship of our products, ensuring a consistent consumer experience.
Consumers recognize BIRKENSTOCK for its superior product quality. According to the Consumer Survey, we outperform our peers — on a statistically significant level — on measures of material quality, construction and craftsmanship, as well as durability. As a result, the loyalty of BIRKENSTOCK consumers is unparalleled, with some consumers keeping pairs for multiple decades through careful maintenance and repair.
Heritage in Every Step
Honoring our heritage represents the cornerstone of our culture. We feel a profound responsibility to protect and live up to our treasured tradition — built over the last two and a half centuries — of crafting functional, high-quality products. This deep respect for our history continuously guides our actions, compelling us to emphasize our values across all aspects of our business.
While our family tradition of shoemaking can be traced back to 1774, the evolution of our brand gained momentum in the early 20th century with our development of the footbed in 1902. We invented the word “Fussbett,” or “footbed,” and this discovery laid the groundwork for what became the “System Birkenstock,” a doctrine and practice of orthopedic principles, built around “Naturgewolltes Gehen,” that still guides us today. The footbed remains the guiding principle for everything we do and the platform we use to explore new product categories. It reminds us to develop products that make our consumers’ lives better, embedding function, quality and purpose in everything we make. The philosophy of the “System Birkenstock” grounds our approach to shoemaking to this day.
Where We Are Today
Over a decade ago, the Birkenstock family brought in its first outside management team, commencing the present era of BIRKENSTOCK. Under the leadership and vision of Oliver Reichert, first as a General Manager in 2009 and then as the Chief Executive Officer beginning in 2013, we have transformed our business from a family-owned, production-oriented company into a global, professionally managed enterprise committed to growing our brand. In the current era, we have built on our legacy while continuing to revolutionize processes and strategies to unleash our global potential.