GQ Australia - 08.2018

W

hen it comes to footwear,

comfort seems like it

should be an obvious

consideration. But for many brands,

theideathatwhatyouwearshouldfeel

good–ratherthanjustlookit–isstill

an almost foreign concept. The words

‘comfortable shoes’ tend to bring to

mindacertaindemographic.Andas

with many things in the fashion world,

comfortseemstogetforgotteninfavour

of how stylish, cool or exclusive

aproductis.

This particular irony struck former

A-Leaguer Tim Brown, as he prepared

forlifepost-soccer.Afterhangingupthe

bootsin2012,insteadoffollowingthe

well-trodden path to the commentary

box,BrownheadedforSiliconValley

withavisionforanewapproachto

footwear.“Comforthasbeenadirty

wordfortoolong,”hesays.“Ithink

we’vealwaysthoughtofitasbeing

some sort of trade off for

quality or design.”

When the Kickstarter campaign for

Brown’sirstsneakerprototyperaised

asix-iguresuminthespaceoffour

days,heknewhewassittingonaunique

business opportunity. It was then,

Brown connected with renewables

expert Joey Zwillinger and the two

set about drafting the blueprint for

a textile innovation company. “Our

ideawastobringbeautifuldesign

and uncompromised comfort

together,” explains Brown.

Describing themselves as “footwear

outsiders,”BrownandZwillinger

concludedthatiftheyweregoingto

createafootwearcompany,theywould

have to throw out the rulebook.

“Traditionally,footwearbrandswould

launchandgowholesale,”saysBrown,

“andthatmodelisaboutreleasinganew

seasonalrangeeveryquarter,andhaving

many,manydifferentstyles.”

Enteringthemarketaroundthe

direct-to-consumer boom in 2016,

Allbirds chose to bypass the well-

trodden route of selling via stockists.

“Ourideawastodotheexactopposite.

We wa nted to foc u s pu rely on

thecustomerandonsimpledesigns

that don’t necessarily change, but

constantly improve and evolve

basedoncustomerfeedback.For

thefootwearindustry,itwasquite

unheardoftodothingsthisway.”

Facilitating a two-way conversation

withcustomershasbeenAllbirds’MO

fromthegetgo.It’sapillaroftheD2C

concept, and something that’s enabled

otherInstagram-agestart-ups–thelikes

ofcosmeticsgiantGlossierandluggage

companyAway–tosurgeaheadofrivals.

“We’ve made something like 27 changes

tothe‘WoolRunners’sincelaunching,”

confessesBrown,“andthat’sbeendriven

entirely by customer feedback. Our

social channels give us the ability to

listendeeply,andourcustomerservice

team is at the heart of what we do.”

Allbirds’stapleproducts,the‘Wool

Runner’and‘WoolLoungers’,are

manufactured from merino wool and

offeredinanhandfulofshades.The

silhouetteofthe‘Runner’ishardly

radical but what sets Allbirds’ designs

apartfromtheircontemporariesisthe

lack of usual sneaker accoutrement.

There are no logos, decoration or

typography to be seen. The shoes

areblankcanvases,whichisprobably

how they found their way onto the

feet of venture capitalists, regularly

describedas‘theunoficialuniform

ofthestart-upworld’.

They’vealsobeendubbedthe‘world’s

comiestshoes’andbecame,according

to Brown, a “tool of international

diplomacy” when New Zealand Prime

MinisterJacindaArderngiftedapair

ofAllbirdstoMalcolmTurnbullandhis

wifeLucyonatriptoAustraliaearlier

thisyear.EmmaWatson,Matthew

McConaughey and Oprah Winfrey are

also conirmed fans, helping to elevate

thesneakersfromtech-geekstapleto

celebrity shoe of choice.

AndthoughBrownisquicktopoint

out “sustainability alone doesn’t sell

shoes,”Allbirds’fabricsareethically

sourcedandtheirsupplychainis

completely transparent. This gives the

brandanaspirationaledgethat’searning

thembrowniepointsamongmillennial

consumers. But perhaps most

impressively, the company is one of only

sixshoebrands,worldwide,toachieve

BCorpcertiication–anon-proit

accreditationthat’stosustainable

businesseswhat‘FairTrade’istocoffee.

The ‘Wool Runners’ are manufactured

inKoreaatafactoryexclusiveto

Allbirds,andthelabel’snewest

innovation–the‘TreeRunners’,

which are made from eucalyptus

pulp–areproducedataninnovation

factory in Shenzhen, China.

“There’s a huge opportunity to bring

amorethoughtfuluseofmaterialsinto

the footwear category,” suggests Brown,

before returning to the idea of comfort

as being Allbirds’ hero selling point.

“I think for so long, we’ve all vastly

underestimated how universally

appreciated comfort is. It was like

nobodywantedtoadmitit.”Fortunately,

it seems the secret is inally out.

ALLBIRDS

“OURIDEAWASTOBRING

BEAUTIFUL DESIGN

AND UNCOMPROMISED

COMFORT TOGETHER.”

THE NEW ZEALAND-BO

SAN FRAN-BASED COMPANY H

DEVELOPED AN ALMOST CULT-L

FOLLOWING FOR ITS SIMP

COMFORTABLE SNEAKE

WORDS: AMY CAMPBELL.

GENTLEMEN’S INITIATIVE