Birkenstock’s contoured footbed was medical before it became fashion.
The German cobbler family had made shoes since 1774. Konrad Birkenstock introduced the contoured footbed — shaped to mimic healthy feet — in 1902, for orthopaedics. When his grandson made it a sandal in 1963, no shoe shop wanted it, and doctors and nurses bought it first. Hippies and designers followed. In 2023 Birkenstock went public, valued at about $8.6 billion.
Birkenstock on Brandseum