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Comfy shoes have never been so hot.
L Catterton, the private equity fund backed by LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE founder Bernard
Arnault, is nearing an agreement to buy a majority stake in Birkenstock, maker of the famously clumpy sandals, for about 4 billion euros ($4.9 billion), Bloomberg News reported.
This would be the second shoe to drop in as many months. At the end of January, PE group Permira listed famous bootmaker Dr Martens Plc, valuing its equity at 3.7 billion pounds ($5.2 billion). The shares have since risen by a third.
Birkenstock looks like the better bet in terms of recent footwear trends towards casual, no-fuss comfort. The trouble is, L Catterton would be getting into shoes just
as they’re commanding princely valuations. Permira was able to list Dr Martens at more than 10 times what it initially paid. To get anywhere near that sort of growth, L Catterton will have to work hard to expand the sandals’ international footprint, particularly among young Asian consumers.
Birkenstock was founded in 1774, but made its name in 1896, when it developed the footbed giving its shoes their characteristic support. In 1966, Margot Fraser, a German dressmaker living in California, introduced them to the US.
Initially sold in health food shops, over the next few decades they were worn
by those who rebelled against laced-up, conventional footwear. Then in the early 1990s, Birkenstocks became a fashion favourite after model Kate Moss sported them in an influential photoshoot for The Face magazine.
The shoes have been in and out of vogue since then, helped along by collaborations with designers such as Rick Owens. Somewhere in the last 10 years, Birks transcended fashion to become a wardrobe staple. That gives them more staying power than Dr Martens, which has ridden its own fashion waves since the creation of its namesake chunky boot in 1960. Although Docs were hot in the 1980s, they have only recently come into style again, thanks to the craze for oversized boots worn by the likes of singer Billie Eilish.
—Bloomberg