In a country obsessed with tradition, a winemaker turned designer had an idea and convinced everyone--and their mamas--to get on board.
A decade ago, Mario Polegato was living the Italian dream: running his family's lucrative Villa Sandi winery in Crocetta del Montello, about an hour northwest of Venice. Still, a problem nagged at him: sweaty feet. "I like to hike," he explains, "but my rubber-soled shoes made my feet hot." While on a trip to the Rocky Mountains, he glanced down at his uncomfortable shoes and impulsively poked holes in the bottoms. "I cut my hand doing it--I still have a scar--but I knew I was on to something," Polegato remembers.
Like a man possessed, he spent the next year developing technology for a breathable sole, which combines tiny holes with a moisture-absorbing insole; sweat goes out, but water can't come in. But when he brought it to the major players--Nike and Adidas to name a few--no one was interested. So he took his patent, and $1.2 million of his own money, and created Geox. (The name combines "geo," the Greek word for earth, with an "x" for technology.)
Today, Geox is a $3.5 billion public company. "I've started a shoe revolution," fifty-five-year-old Polegato says with a playful smile. "My brother runs the winery now." Here, bene talks with the man who says it's fashionable to have holes in your shoes.
Do you consider yourself an inventor or businessman?
An inventor. My history is similar to that of Bill Gates, whom I met two months ago in Thailand. Bill invented the personal computer and offered it to many companies, but no one believed in him. So he started his own thing. I'm the same. I realized the American dream--in Italy!
Why did your shoes catch on so well in Italy?
We first introduced them for children, with the promise that they'd help their feet breathe. You know how Italian mothers are: "I want the best for my baby!" Pretty soon, there was demand for an adult version.
Was it hard to compete in a country known for having the best-made shoes in the world?
Italian fashion is built on old families with histories of luxury--Ferregamo, Fendi, Zegna. Italians don't have the courage to enter the medium-priced segment, because it's not what we're known for. But I was a fashion outsider, so I could do things differently.
The Italian government has awarded you numerous honors for innovation and entrepreneurship. Why are they so interested in you?
When Americans think of Italy, they think of food, wine, fashion--la dolce vita. For technology, the world turns to Germany and Japan. But I have brought that tech spirit here. For that, the Italian government loves me.
Why hasn't Italy entered the tech world in a big way?
In Italy, ideas get lost in the legalities. There is distrust in the government, so inventors don't take their ideas to the patent stage. Italians come up with ideas and Americans develop businesses. We invented pizza, but Americans created Dominos. We invented espresso, but Americans started Starbucks.
How has Geox been received in the rest of the world?
Everyone understands the benefit of the Geox sole: Your feet won't sweat as much. And our patent is recognized everywhere--including China--so no one can duplicate the concept.
How many shoes do you sell?
We'll sell twenty-one million pairs this year. We're sold in more than eleven thousand independent stores around the world. We have fifteen stores in the United States; we've opened fifty stores in Russia.
How do you plan to get more Americans to like Geox?
In Italy, children don't say, "Mommy, I need new shoes." They say, "Mommy, I need new Geox." We want American children to think that way as well. We're already the top-selling children's shoe at Nordstrom.
Do celebrities wear your shoes?
The Pope wears Geox! But we don't focus on that. We don't talk about Angelina wearing Geox, we'd rather talk about what makes the shoes different.
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