Hip sneaker-maker Allbirds to sock it to customers with new product

Allbirds, the San Francisco-based retailer of comfy wool sneakers, is expanding beyond shoes and getting into socks, reports Lauren Thomas of CNBC. (https://www.cnbc.com/2019/08/13/allbirds-known-for-its-wool-sneakers-is-getting-into-the-apparel-business.html)

The shoemaker said Tuesday it will begin selling three styles of socks, retailing between $12 and $16, online and at its five bricks-and-mortar shops in the U.S. Like its existing line-up of shoes, the socks will be made from sustainable materials — including plants and recycled plastic bottles. And they’re
100 per cent carbon neutral, meaning there’s no net release of carbon dioxide into the atmosphereduring production.

The company, recently valued at $1.4 billion, has always intended to grow outside of shoes, according to co-founder Tim Brown. “Allbirds has never been just about wool or just about footwear.”

Having officially launched in March 2016, Allbirds sold its millionth shoe in just two years in business. The team has raised $77.5 million to date, according to data from Crunchbase, with support with celebrities like actor Leonardo DiCaprio.

“I am proud to join the company as an investor,’ the 44-year-old actor said in a statement last August. “Creating sustainable consumer products requires a deep commitment from brands that understand the role they have in helping solve our environmental crisis.”

(https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-6112557/Leonardo-DiCaprio-sports-Allbirds-sneakers-following-investment-sustainable-footwear-brand.html)

(Photo of Leonardo DiCaprio wearing Allbirds shoes.)

Yvonne Zacharias