Allbirds’ wool shoes have taken off in the techie world of Silicon Valley. The brand’s logo-free shoes are also popular with celebrities, such as investor Leonardo DiCaprio, and even Barack Obama. The company began as a Silicon Valley eCommerce retailer, but has since opened stores.
According to the company’s website, Allbirds has initiated a “new category of shoes inspired by natural materials, and an ongoing mantra to create better things in a better way.”
New Zealand soccer star Tim Brown and Joey Zwillinger, an engineer and “renewables expert,” started the company. “One of the worst offenders of the environment from a consumer product standpoint is shoes,” Zwillinger told the Times in 2017. “It’s not the making; it’s the materials.”
Allbirds, which is now based in San Francisco, has raised more than $200 million since 2016. Last September, the footwear company closed on a $100 million round of venture capital. That round — which was led by Franklin Templeton, the San Mateo, California investment firm — reportedly pegged the company’s value at $1.7 billion.
Zwillinger said at the time that the new cash would be used to build stores, add products and fund direct-to-consumer sales operations. “Business can be a force for positive change, and this additional capital will allow us to further our mission of bringing more sustainable products to people around the world,” he said.
Advertisement: Scroll to Continue
Allbirds also introduced a sustainable clothing line last October. Each garment indicates an estimate of how much carbon was emitted in its production. A woman’s T-shirt, for example, emits 6.3kg of carbon during the manufacturing process, and a men’s puffer jacket emits 25kg. The company said the clothing line uses materials that reduce its lifetime carbon footprint.
