WHardly any other textile company has managed to make bed linen and pajamas desirable and put it on the fashion world’s agenda. They succeeded in this with a reduced, Scandinavian color palette, a clear visual language that cites architects such as John Pawson, Donald Judd, Le Corbusier and the artist Agnes Martin as role models – and with prominent fans such as Harry Styles and Alexa Chung. And then the company of Charlie Hedin, ex-communications director at Acne Studios, recently attracted attention with a joint collection with the French design star Jacquemus. Now Tekla is following up with another collaboration and is launching sandals and pajamas together with Birkenstock.
The limited collection has been available since October 12th. Birkenstock is currently making headlines primarily with its IPO planned for October in the USA. Since February 2021, the family company has been majority owned by the American-French investment company L Catterton, which is backed by, among others, the French luxury goods group LVMH and its main shareholder Bernard Arnault. Proof of what a heavyweight the traditional German brand has long been. Birkenstock had sales of 1.24 billion euros last year, including 187 million euros in profits. The company, which still produces in Germany today, has over 5,500 employees. Tekla, with its 45 employees, seems like a flyweight. They work on a handful of collections per year, which, according to the company, can be divided into three categories: core range, seasonal products and collaborations. That’s enough.
However, the common denominator was quickly discovered. “Comfort is key for Tekla,” says Christoffer Lundman, creative lead at Tekla. That suits Birkenstock. By the way, collaboration with other brands is neither new for the textile company nor for the shoe manufacturer. Tekla collaborated with John Pawson, Jacquemus and Stüssy; The list at Birkenstock is longer: Rick Owens, Fear of God, Manolo Blahnik, Proenza Schouler and Jil Sander are on it. “We see a lot of collaborations in fashion,” says the designer, who commutes between Stockholm and Copenhagen, in the video call. “But you know immediately which feels real and which doesn’t. With Birkenstock it was a perfect match.”
How do such collaborations come about?
But how do such collaborations actually come about? Do they come about through official requests or private connections? “In this case, the collaboration was initiated by our 1774 office in Paris,” says Klaus Baumann, Managing Director at Birkenstock 1774 – the suffix stands for the shoe manufacturer’s innovation office. The synergies were quickly recognized during a meeting with Tekla founder Charly Hedin. “Our teams then held discussions to explore the possibilities of collaboration – and started the project.”
Now Tekla is already an established brand and no longer a newcomer. So it would be an exaggeration to call it an accolade if Birkenstock cooperates with them – but it is a stamp; a confirmation that the Danish company is expected to continue to play in the industry in the long term. “We don’t do fashion. I think that speaks to people. We don’t have to follow trends. We produce things that we ourselves would like to have in our lives,” says Lundman. And continues: “Birkenstock is a brand with a product that is, so to speak, above fashion. It’s an icon. Birkenstock is the archetype of the sandal.”
Perhaps this is why both brands practiced reduction in their collaboration and focused primarily on shape and color. The “Nagoya” and “Uji” models were dipped in four Tekla colors, and the sandal straps were only extended at the overlapping closure of the shoes. There is a matching unisex homewear collection in slate grey, lavender and straw yellow, which consists of a kaftan, shirt, shorts and pajama bottoms. The exercise in reduction is worth mentioning because collaborations are often about generating more attention. The most successful Birkenstock model, the “Arizona” sandal, which was introduced in 1973, was neglected for this collaboration, although Rick Owens and Proenza Schouler have also worked on it in the past (with great success).
It’s not uncommon for limited collections to drive up the price of a product. The “Nagoya” slippers cost around 450 euros. After all, the sandal that was launched with Dior sells for around twice as much. When asked whether collaborations increase sales or are aimed at branding a brand, Baumann answers with – admittedly – expected marketing speak. “Our collaborations go far beyond purely commercial interests,” he says. “The true value of collaboration lies in the wealth of knowledge gained and the prospect of creating something truly unique.”
#limited #collection #Birkenstock #Tekla