The market
World retail sales of shoes crossed the historic bar of $ 200 billion in 2010 and should reach $ 238 billion in 2013. Strong demand from emerging markets in Asia and Latin America has supported a growth rate composed annual greater than 6%. In 2010, this represents the marketing and distribution of more than 10 billion pairs of athletic and non -athletic shoes. The total number of shoes sold has increased by 2 billion pairs in the past five years and is expected to reach 12 billion in 2013. Even if the American market has continued to grow at the rate of a billion dollars per year between 2004 and 2008 and that it is expected to reach $ 48 billion in three years, its worldwide world share has dropped under the fifth in 2013. The shoe industry is one of the most globalized industries. In the case of North America, 96% of all shoes is produced abroad, 87% of which come from China, the rest from Vietnam, Indonesia and Brazil. Dressed shoes and relaxed women's shoes represent the largest category of products with 35%, while athletic shoes for men, including sneakers and boots, come second with 22%. Dressed shoes and casual shoes for men represent around 15%, almost the same volume as sports shoes for women. Traditional shoe stores retain distribution control with more than half of customers, clothing stores represent only 12% of sales and the outlet of sports items only 7%. The largest shoe company in the world in terms of sales is Nike (more than $ 10 billion), ahead of Adidas, Puma and Asics. The manufacturers of outdoor shoes and ecological shoes Geox (Italy) and ECCO SKO (Denmark) have both exceeded one billion dollars in sales. The oldest is Bat, originally founded in the Czech Republic in the late 1800s, then transferred to Canada in 1940 to finally settle in Lausanne, Switzerland. The company sold more than 12 billion pairs of shoes during its history.
Innovation
Due to its extreme globalization and its media exhibition, consumers are interested in knowing the functional advantages of the products (like Geox which claims that shoes breathe), and they wish to understand the values of the company. Since there is an excess offer on the market, marketing linked to specific problems creates a positive emotional connection that goes beyond the celebrity of a brand. Deckers took the lead with the simple shoes brand which offers 100 % durable shoes with choices of materials ranging from organic cotton to metal -free leather, including bamboo fibers and even recycled tires and air chambers for its soles . In reaction to the high level of standardization, Zazzle introduced, among other things, personalized shoes allowing customers to create unique canvas shoes by downloading their own drawings, models, illustrations, images and texts offering 42 billion dazzling variations. However, although personalization and social and environmental issues are important, the key subject which is often ignored is health. The health of our feet serves as a barometer for the overall health of our body. Guillem Ferrer, who revolutionized the design and ecological footprint of the Spanish shoe manufacturer Camper, studied in detail the 26 bones, 33 joints and 150 ligaments which ensure our mobility. Our feet are home to a complex network of nerves and blood vessels necessary for the 160,000 kilometers that humans travel during their lifetime. Poor blood circulation decreases the supply of oxygen and nutrients to the feet. Guillem has studied the importance of freeing the feet from rigid shoes, waterproof and water that cause fungal growth and hinder flexibility. A detailed analysis of the form, and in particular the deformation of the feet caused by fashionable shoes, and the proliferation of fungal diseases pushed Guillem to imagine how the shoe could evolve to become the protector of the feet so that health Feet, the shoe carrier and environmental health would be a priority. He left to camp and created his private shoe design studio. A meeting in Bhutan between Guillem and Fritz Vollrath, professor in the Biology Department of the University of Oxford and Silk Expert, made it possible to highlight a unique opportunity. The silk caterpillar creates a unique cocoon with its saliva which protects the pending moth. This hard shell, which is then covered with tiny silk threads, has distinct antifungal and antibacterial characteristics. It is solid and durable. With around a million tonnes available from seric farming, there is not enough to supply the entire shoe market, but there are more than it takes to start the design process with the Guaranteed that enough equipment is at hand to guarantee market development. While Fritz plans to develop a large market in association with sports shoes recognized for the fungal diseases they cause, Guillem focuses on the overhaul of a local commercial model for the manufacture of shoes, in which 95 % of the market is local, and 5 % in the world. This is one of the fundamental principles of the blue economy: meet local needs with what you have.
The first cash flow
Guillem proceeds to conception in cooperation with the Tarayana Foundation which is devoted to providing means of subsistence to the villages. However, producing a sole is not enough. Guillem's research by an abundant textile which does not prevent on earth intended for the production of food brought it to nettle, one of the nine sacred herbs of ancient cultures. It is an exceptional plant often considered as bad. It grows easily, does not require any fertilizers, can be harvested in the wild and it has already been successfully transformed into fabric. This nettle fiber was already used in Neolithic residential sites in Switzerland before wool or linen. The combination of silk cocoons and nettle tissue will serve as a basis for a systemic design of shoes beyond what has been considered viable. Considering Guillem's creations in the past, we are guaranteed that his healthy shoe tests will be beautiful too. That it will be a competitive proposal, with a solid social and ecological impact.
The opportunity
Starting a new business with new materials always supposes having to overcome the obstacles of lack of money and lack of experience. The production of nettle wire has been mastered in the past and does not require exceptional expertise. The wild nettles harvested can first be stripped of their leaves, which produce an excellent soup, then transformed into a wire. Instead of textiles in competition with food, this plant offers food and then a solid fiber. The cocoons are the remains of seric farming and receive new value by reaching out to farmers who need better income. Under these conditions, it is not only possible to produce a lasting product at the local level, it is even viable to produce fashionable goods which output in terms of cost, value and health performance the products marketed on the international market. It is this approach that is likely to inspire not entrepreneurs who dream of replacing Nike or Puma alone, but those who are ready to snack on a small part of their massive market. Since the framework of this economic model could be applied worldwide, thousands of people could embark on this adventure, once Guillem has proven that customers buy this creation. Since he announced his intention and describes his first options, he aroused more interest than he can soon produce it, which is for any entrepreneur a luxury position.
