At almost 250 years old - once dismissed as Jesus sandals by fashionistas but now more popular than ever - Birkenstocks have already had a colourful history. Now, the German footwear brand has announced plans to go public on the US stock market as early as this September.
Jesus must have been wearing his favourite orthopaedic sandals when he tread those paths dripping with abundance back in whenever it was, because Birkenstock has never been better.
According to Bloomberg News, private equity firm L Catterton is planning to launch the international company on the US stock market as early as this September. An official valuation has not yet been published, but analysts are predicting a figure within a wide range, somewhere between 4 and 10 billion US dollars.
So far, Birkenstock and L Catterton have declined to comment further on the news, though it is not uncommon for companies to put feelers out for market appetite by launching valuation rumours ahead of an official announcement.
Now the summer sandal of choice for many the world over, Birkenstocks were first designed by Konrad Birkenstock as an orthopaedic shoe in Rhineland-Palatinate back in the 1770s.
It took almost 200 years for the shoe to become what it is today, a trendy sandal for summer with the right amount of hippy-vibe to be popular on the European and US mass market.
The Birkenstock has now escaped its association with sock-and-sandal-wearing Germans and has become the practical shoes of celebrities and the anti-fashion fashion conscious, a transition most recently demonstrated in Greta Gerwig’s new film, Barbie. Barbie, played by Margot Robbie, is presented with a choice: continue a life of eternal high-heel wearing in Barbieland or slip on the Birkenstocks and enter the real world. Of course, she has no choice but to pick the Birkenstocks.
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