The most famous “orthopedic slippers” will become public. Behind this is the owner of the fashion empire

You can say about them that they are unattractive or even ugly, you can swear that you will never wear them - but what if thallium has been finding buyers for 250 years and bringing big money to its owners? These are Birkenstock sandals. The history of the brand dates back to 1774, when Johann Adam Birkenstock created comfortable shoes for daily walks in Neustadt, Germany. To this day, most Birkenstock factories are located in Germany. The company employs about three thousand employees.

Birkenstock will become public. Might be a hit

They could remain “everyday orthopedic shoes”, which are willingly bought, for example, by doctors and nurses, i.e. representatives of professions, a feature of which is round-the-clock movement. Popular sandals, however, “raised to a higher level” Bernard Arnault, the owner of the LVMH concern, the richest European and one of the richest people in the world. In 2021, L Catterton, an investment fund he controls, acquired a majority stake in Birkenstock for four billion euros.

In September 2023, the company will debut on the New York Stock Exchange, Bloomberg was the first to report. Analysts estimate the debut will fetch a valuation of over $8 billion, and maybe closer to ten billion.

Birkenstock has collaborated with Dior and Monolo Blahnik.

Last year, Birkenstock recorded a 29 percent increase in revenue and a profit of almost 400 million euros. The sandal’s popularity is driven by a change in the value of many buyers, with people increasingly valuing the product’s comfort and durability, and Birkenstock sandals deliver both. In any case, designers are not sitting idly by, but are developing new versions of sandals in collaboration with luxury fashion houses. Designers Dior and Monolo Blahnik have already created their own version of sandals.

Slippers have not changed their traditional shape, but have acquired a new texture. Dior filled them with light gray felt. They also feature Dior’s signature rollercoaster buckle. The soles were embossed with Dior Oblique and Birkenstock motifs. In turn, the series, created in collaboration with Monolo Blahnik, was prepared using velvet material in shades of fuchsia, navy blue and black, and everything was decorated with diamonds and crystals, referring to the famous Carrie Bradshaw shoes.

Bernard Arnault, luxury goods retailer

Who is the man who saw these sandals as something more than just rough shoes for long walks? Bernard Arnault is the founder of the most famous luxury goods group: he owns such brands as Christian Dior, Donna Karan, Fendi, Givenchy, Kenzo, Marc Jacobs and many others.

As a rule, where big money is involved, there are big disputes, but under the roof of LVMH, the coexistence of the biggest names in fashion seems surprisingly peaceful.

Born in 1949, the French businessman didn’t jump straight into fashion. His father ran the successful engineering company Ferret-Savinel, which became the development company Férinel in the 1970s. Arnault played a major role in this, and when the profits from it allowed for some very bold purchases, he acquired two luxury goods companies in the 1980s: Financière Agache and Boussac. The latter owned the famous Le Bon Marché department store and the Christian Dior brand.

Appetite grows with food, and company legends say that a few years later, Arnault announced that his goal would be to build the largest luxury brand management company within the next decade. He chose LVMH Moët Hennessy-Louis Vuitton (the LVMH group was created in 1987 from the merger of Louis Vuitton with Moët Hennessy) and for US$2.6 billion bought the shares that enabled him to become the largest shareholder and shortly after his president.