Birkenstock

About Birkenstock:

Birkenstock's origins trace to 1774, when Johann Adam Birkenstock registered as a shoemaker in a church register in Langen-Bergheim, Germany. The contoured footbed that defines the brand was developed in 1896 by Konrad Birkenstock, who created a flexible arch support insert for use inside shoes. The first Birkenstock sandal followed in 1963, bringing the footbed to the outside of a shoe for the first time.

The brand remained largely European until the 1960s, when an American importer brought the Arizona sandal to the United States, where it became associated with the counterculture movement before finding mainstream acceptance. In more recent decades Birkenstock has undergone a significant repositioning, moving from functional comfort footwear into the premium fashion space while maintaining the same footbed construction that defined it from the beginning. In 2021 the brand was acquired by L Catterton, a private equity group backed by LVMH, and it listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 2023. All Birkenstock footwear continues to be manufactured in Germany.