Everything you need to know about: Allbirds

Allbirds is known for its innovative and sustainable footwear. The brand has conquered the market in just a few years, persuading customers with minimalist shoes that focus on ecological factors.

Origin

Allbirds was launched in 2016 by former soccer player Tim Brown and industrial engineer Joey Zwillinger.

Evolution

The brand, which was originally founded as an exclusively digital brand, set foot in brick & mortar retail in 2017 with a store in San Francisco. Just a few months later, the brand opened their first retail store outside of the United Stated in London, followed by the launch of an European ecommerce site. Shortly after, the brand entered the Chinese market. Herein, instead of choosing a drop-shipping model that operates from the United States, Allbirds decided to set up local offices, warehouses and retail locations to ensure “an exceptional experience” to all customers, as Sandeep Verman, Managing Director of Allbirds in Europe said in an interview with FashionUnited in 2019.

After just three years, Allbirds rose to a 1.4 billion dollar valuation – and sold over 1 million pairs of shoes around the world, securing 77 million dollars in investments. With this valuation, Allbirds has become one of fashion’s latest unicorns.

News

Recently, the brand presented its first plant-based leather sneaker, as well as a sustainable running shoe. The brand frequently takes part in collaborations, making their findings available to competitors and customers with the vision of the fashion industry having “the same goal of minimising our impact”. Simultaneously, Allbirds is expanding their brick & mortar presence in American retail. In the beginning of 2022 the brand also launched a resale concept, enabling customers to return their Allbirds sneakers to selected stores and making them available for resale at an online platform.