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How Birkenstock’s signature footbed is made
Since 1896, when Konrad Birkenstock led the company’s management, Birkenstock has continued to focus on footbed production. The company’s main products were comfort shoes for middle-aged women, but after World War II, which ended in 1945, sandals made with the flexible footbeds produced by Birkenstock became popular among returning soldiers, especially wounded soldiers, as what are now called “recovery shoes. This event led to the development of highly functional shoes that focused more on the footbed from 1963.
At that time, leather shoes with footbeds made of hard materials such as hard leather, wood, and some metal were the mainstream, but Birkenstock independently developed a footbed made of a new material mixing cork and rubber. It was thicker and more flexible than the conventional products within Birkenstock, and the unevenness was designed to fit the foot shape based on the ergonomics of the time. This was a revolutionary invention even in Western countries with a long history of shoe culture. The “Madrid , ” a one-strap sandal with a footbed developed by Birkenstock, was introduced as a medical sandal and established the foundation for the “comfort shoe,” which had never existed before. The same model of the “Madrid” is still sold today as the current product.
The company then introduced sports sandals that were more specialized in comfort and not only within the framework of medical use, but also in order to heal the feet, which led to the company gaining tremendous support from athletes, especially German gymnasts. Birkenstock became known worldwide as a comfort shoe brand.
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