{"blocks":[{"id":"onujx6fc-emxyjg6j","type":"linkTool","data":{"link":"https://nypost.com/2026/02/08/lifestyle/designer-bridal-birkenstocks-divide-the-internet/","meta":{"title":"Designer bridal Birkenstocks divide the internet: ‘Have to draw the line’","description":"","image":{"url":"https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/www-daniellefrankelstudio-com-products-danielle-120720496.jpg?quality=75&strip=all&w=171&h=114&crop=1"}},"variant":"compact"}},{"id":"tayhrh1k-eefrseue","type":"linkTool","data":{"link":"https://nypost.com/2026/02/05/shopping/these-slip-on-clogs-fooled-me-as-birkenstocks-under-50/","meta":{"title":"These clogs are 38% off and cheaper than Birkenstocks","description":"","image":{"url":"https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/cushionfeature.jpg?quality=75&strip=all&w=171&h=114&crop=1"}},"variant":"compact"}},{"id":"bif8csab-d6q3svwo","type":"linkTool","data":{"link":"https://nypost.com/2025/12/18/business/birkenstock-shares-plunge-8-7-as-it-warns-of-tariff-hit-to-profit-margins/","meta":{"title":"Birkenstock shares plunge 9% as German sandal maker warns tariffs will slam profits","description":"","image":{"url":"https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/117548954.jpg?quality=75&strip=all&w=171&h=114&crop=1"}},"variant":"compact"}},{"type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"As a youngster in the 1980s, I eagerly awaited the summer season, when our unglamorous resort town in eastern Greece would be inundated by hordes of tourists clad in Birkenstocks."}},{"type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"The Germans would always pair them with a pair of white socks, while the French would go sockless. "}},{"type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"In a country where you don’t even take the trash out unless you’re properly dressed, we loved making fun of Birkenstock wearers for their lack of “good taste.”"}},{"type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"Today, however, the joke is on me."}},{"type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"Nearly three decades — and four pairs of my own Birkenstocks later — the legendary sandal company is set to go public on the New York Stock Exchange. "}},{"type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"And as a professor of luxury marketing with a focus on heritage brands, I’m paying close attention to how things turn out. "}},{"type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"In my position, I regularly delve into the specifics of companies like Birkenstock to understand and explain their staying power."}},{"type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"Such companies typically possess a handful of common denominators."}},{"type":"image","data":{"file":{"url":"https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/09/NYPICHPDPICT000030715126.jpg?w=1024"},"caption":"\n Birkenstock has been made by the same company in the same place using the same materials since the late 18th century. Shutterstock"}},{"type":"image","data":{"file":{"url":"https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/09/NYPICHPDPICT000030715078.jpg?w=1024"},"caption":"\n Birkenstocks is set to go public on the New York Stock Exchange. DPA/AFP via Getty Images"}},{"type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"They often originate in Europe (Birkenstock is German); and have a long history under similar management (Birkenstock was family-owned from 1774 until 2021 when the private equity firm L Catterton acquired a majority stake in the brand); never moved from their original place of manufacturing (Birkenstock has long called the tiny village of Hammersbach, near Frankfurt, home); possess a proprietary production method that links heritage to innovation (Birkenstocks have always been made with the same cork, leather and jute combo that incorporate both timeless appeal and necessary innovation); and are distributed, like Birkenstock, within a certain limited capacity."}},{"type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"While I’ll spare you the lecture, it’s safe to say that Birkenstock — despite its “crunchy” reputation – firmly exists within this “luxury business model.”"}},{"type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"It’s a hard-to-pinpoint distinction that explains the baffling reversal of a fundamental law of economics, namely the law of supply and demand."}},{"type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"While heightened demand should prompt companies to increase supply, the formula is reversed in the luxury sector."}},{"type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"Here, heritage brands either purposely maintain their products’ scarcity or create a perceived scarcity that only increases consumer desire."}},{"type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"And such has become the case with Birkenstock."}},{"type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"Desire is what luxury sells."}},{"type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"And no one understands both consumer desire and how to respond to it quite like Bernard Arnault — the world’s richest person, head of luxury conglomerate LVMH, and owner of L Catterton, which invests in fancy consumer brands."}},{"type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"Birkenstock understood the advantage of selling a stake to L Catterton because it knows how to make popular and desirable companies even more popular and desirable."}},{"type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"They’re two adjectives that work best in the luxury arena even if many buyers don’t necessarily view Birkenstocks as a luxury product. "}},{"type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"But luxury isn’t solely about price – but also about dreams and aspirations."}},{"type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"And Birkenstock has proven highly aspirational over the past few seasons."}},{"type":"image","data":{"file":{"url":"https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/09/NYPICHPDPICT000032376812.jpg?w=945"},"caption":"\n Birkenstock began to upgrade its “crunchy” image via posh partnerships with high-fashion brands such as Dior (above). DIOR"}},{"type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"First, they wisely partnered with high-fashion brands such as Dior and Proenza Schouler."}},{"type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"Then, last year, hip creatives began clamoring for Birkenstocks’ comfy Boston model — which saw its price surge nearly threefold on the resale market."}},{"type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"A few months later, a pair of Birkenstocks owned and worn by Steve Jobs sold for $220,000 at auction."}},{"type":"image","data":{"file":{"url":"https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/09/NYPICHPDPICT000030749511.jpg?w=800"},"caption":"\n Birkenstock understood the advantage of selling a stake to L Catterton because it knows how to make popular and desirable companies even more popular and desirable. Birkenstock"}},{"type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"Then this past summer, Birkenstock got a massive dose of pop-culture cred when their Arizona Big Buckle Nubuck Leather Sandal was worn by Barbie in the eponymous big-screen hit (they were pink, of course)."}},{"type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"They’re the type of organic marketing wins that companies like L Catterton want to see before they take a company like Birkenstock public. "}},{"type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"L Catterton paid a hefty $4.9 billion for their majority share in Birkenstock."}},{"type":"image","data":{"file":{"url":"https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/09/NYPICHPDPICT000030715108.jpg?w=1024"},"caption":"\n Private equity firm L Catterton snapped up a majority share of Birkenstock for $4.9 billion in 2021 — they hope to see the firm score a valuation of upwards of $8 billion on the New York Stock Exchange.\n "}},{"type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"But the price made sense because it included centuries of proven confidence in both the brand’s backstory and the product itself."}},{"type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"Less than three years later, L Catterton has spoken of an $8 billion valuation for Birkenstock when it goes public this fall — a tidy profit and a smart bet on the enduring value of heritage and quality that other privately held firms can learn from. "}},{"type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"But here’s the catch: Investors in newly listed companies often demand such high returns that brands are moving away from the formula that made them so desirable in the first place — authenticity and exclusivity."}},{"type":"image","data":{"file":{"url":"https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/09/NYPICHPDPICT000014179879.jpg?w=1024"},"caption":"\n Birkenstock scored a big dose of pop-culture street cred when one of their styles appeared in the Barbie firm this past summer. AP"}},{"type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"Managers adopt cost-cutting strategies that lead to sloppy production, market oversaturation, and brand dilution."}},{"type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"

"}},{"type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"Such was the case with Coach, which saw its value tumble after it went public in 2000."}},{"type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"Same with Tiffany, another luxury jewel eventually rescued by LVMH after a few difficult decades as a publicly traded company."}},{"type":"paragraph","data":{"text":""}},{"type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"If this becomes the fate of Birkenstock after its IPO, then the share price will tank and its sandals become tasteless — whether worn with or without white socks. "}},{"type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"Thomai Serdari is a professor of marketing and director of the Fashion and Luxury MBA Program at the Leonard N. Stern School of Business at New York University"}}]}

Thomai Serdari

NypThomaiSerdari@RoundtableIO

How will Birkenstocks fare after its billion-dollar bet to go public?