Rothy’s公司的總部設(shè)在舊金山杰克遜廣場(chǎng)的一個(gè)角落里，這里曾經(jīng)是舊金山著名的巴巴里海岸的一部分，但現(xiàn)在這里被各設(shè)計(jì)公司和創(chuàng)業(yè)公司所包圍。該公司窗外總是籠罩著一層厚厚的霧氣，當(dāng)?shù)厝松踔两o這層霧起了個(gè)名字叫“卡爾”。但在房子內(nèi)部卻十分考究，墻刷得雪白，點(diǎn)綴著金色木制家具，一個(gè)小團(tuán)隊(duì)就在這里從事女鞋的設(shè)計(jì)和發(fā)貨工作。值得一提的是，他們?cè)O(shè)計(jì)和生產(chǎn)的女鞋全部是由回收后的塑料水瓶經(jīng)纖維化處理后編織制成的。他們的產(chǎn)品不僅吸引了全國(guó)女性的注意，也吸引了一些大牌投資者的目光。

走下一個(gè)陡峭的臺(tái)階，再經(jīng)過(guò)很多個(gè)房間，你才能找到Rothy’s公司的設(shè)計(jì)工作室。工作室里擺滿了由舊水瓶回收制成的纖維材料和顏色小樣。從1月份忙到現(xiàn)在，該公司的創(chuàng)意總監(jiān)艾琳·洛溫伯格和她的團(tuán)隊(duì)設(shè)計(jì)的一款新產(chǎn)品——一款名叫“切爾西靴”的短靴終于在本周上架了。

這家公司一開(kāi)始主要生產(chǎn)芭蕾舞鞋式樣的平底鞋，后來(lái)又推出了一款運(yùn)動(dòng)鞋。在顧客的強(qiáng)烈要求下，該公司正在研究怎樣讓顧客全年都能穿上自家的產(chǎn)品。洛溫伯格表示，很多顧客強(qiáng)烈要求生產(chǎn)一款能覆蓋腳部更大面積的鞋。Rothy’s公司的宗旨是要讓顧客把他們的產(chǎn)品“擺在衣柜最前面”，因此，該公司也希望“在下半年更加關(guān)注季節(jié)因素?！?/p>

洛溫伯格表示，該公司的設(shè)計(jì)團(tuán)隊(duì)希望通過(guò)切爾西靴，證明它的產(chǎn)品不僅實(shí)用，而且“可以做到美麗與舒適兼得”。他們?cè)赗othy’s的運(yùn)動(dòng)鞋鞋底基礎(chǔ)上做了增高增厚處理，同時(shí)延續(xù)了以前產(chǎn)品的易清潔性和材料的環(huán)保性。它沒(méi)有使用拉鏈和皮革材料，因此采用了“一腳蹬”設(shè)計(jì)，鞋幫后面還有一個(gè)拉帶。同時(shí)跟以前的產(chǎn)品一樣，這款短靴也沒(méi)有鞋帶，因此它的設(shè)計(jì)必須是嚴(yán)絲合縫的。

有些人可能會(huì)說(shuō)，Rothy’s的起家趕上了一個(gè)好時(shí)候。這家公司原本是零售界名不見(jiàn)經(jīng)傳的一個(gè)小角色，近兩年才逐漸受到了大家的關(guān)注。尤其是這幾年服裝行業(yè)不景氣，每季都有幾百萬(wàn)件衣服鞋子賣(mài)不出去，其中有些只能捐給貧困人口，有些干脆進(jìn)了垃圾填埋場(chǎng)或者焚燒場(chǎng)。而據(jù)Rothy’s的創(chuàng)始人稱，該公司不僅使用了新材料，還設(shè)計(jì)了一整套新的供應(yīng)鏈，因此傳統(tǒng)供應(yīng)鏈常見(jiàn)的過(guò)度備料、生產(chǎn)過(guò)剩、運(yùn)輸能耗過(guò)剩等問(wèn)題“幾乎不存在了”。

Rothy’s的創(chuàng)業(yè)故事

Rothy's公司創(chuàng)辦于2012年，當(dāng)時(shí)，該公司的創(chuàng)始人之一羅斯·馬丁正準(zhǔn)備從畫(huà)廊行業(yè)轉(zhuǎn)行。他注意到，舊金山到處都能看見(jiàn)有女性穿著露露檸檬（Lululemon）牌的瑜伽褲——不管是在超市里、市中心還是什么地方，甚至連他妻子也愛(ài)穿。這種黑色彈力褲已經(jīng)從一種小眾產(chǎn)品變成了人手一件的東西，風(fēng)格也相當(dāng)百搭，但是很多女性沒(méi)有搭配它的鞋子。于是在一次吃晚飯的時(shí)候，馬丁將這個(gè)發(fā)現(xiàn)告訴了他的朋友史蒂芬·霍桑斯韋特，并表示生產(chǎn)一款舒服的女式平底鞋是個(gè)很好的商機(jī)，這款平底不僅要舒服得可以隨時(shí)穿出去，還得比一般的運(yùn)動(dòng)鞋更時(shí)尚——而且還得使用創(chuàng)新材料?；羯Ｋ鬼f特當(dāng)時(shí)正準(zhǔn)備退出金融圈，搞自主創(chuàng)業(yè)，于是兩人一拍即合。

敲定意向后不到一年，兩人便決定，這款女鞋應(yīng)該用回收的塑料水瓶作為主要材料，這種材料的供給十分充足，但它對(duì)于紡織行業(yè)來(lái)說(shuō)也不是什么全新的材料——這還得感謝知名運(yùn)動(dòng)品牌Patagonia首創(chuàng)的起絨紗線技術(shù)。兩人決定研發(fā)一種以塑料水瓶為原料的無(wú)絨紗線（先將塑料瓶溶解成球狀物，然后拉伸成柔軟堅(jiān)韌的絲線）。第二步就是如何使用這種紗線了。在這個(gè)過(guò)程中，他們發(fā)現(xiàn)，傳統(tǒng)的制鞋工藝存在大量的浪費(fèi)情況，很多原料在裁剪的過(guò)程中被浪費(fèi)掉了，所以他們決定取消裁剪的過(guò)程。如果他們可以研發(fā)一種鞋面3D打印技術(shù)（這種技術(shù)在當(dāng)時(shí)還不存在），那么Rothy’s就可以精確地使用原料，不會(huì)有一絲一毫的浪費(fèi)。

他們花了整整一年的時(shí)間，在緬因州的一家工廠里制造了一個(gè)又一個(gè)的原型產(chǎn)品。馬丁表示：“為了保證這個(gè)過(guò)程的正確，我們花了很長(zhǎng)時(shí)間搞研發(fā)?！辈贿^(guò)3D編織技術(shù)意味著鞋面完全不能有裁剪，不能有接縫，也不能有額外的結(jié)構(gòu)，而且必須嚴(yán)絲合縫。兩人的結(jié)論是，要想達(dá)到這樣的規(guī)模和這樣的技術(shù)，就只能去中國(guó)找廠家了。在打印過(guò)程中，允許的誤差是很小的。整個(gè)流程需要精通編程和手工加工的熟練工人，包括鞋底和鞋面的縫合等等，需要在針織機(jī)上走55個(gè)步驟。這種精密的作業(yè)只有在中國(guó)才能完成。不過(guò)馬丁和霍桑斯韋特也知道，他們不應(yīng)該把整個(gè)流程外包出去。馬丁表示：“這很難做到，因此我們才必須建立自己的制造流程，而且是一個(gè)不容易被復(fù)制的流程?！?/p>

2015年，他們?cè)跂|莞開(kāi)了一家小作坊，有兩臺(tái)針織機(jī)和一個(gè)程序員。2016年，他們開(kāi)始在美國(guó)網(wǎng)上銷(xiāo)售第一批產(chǎn)品，同時(shí)繼續(xù)在東莞建廠。

這款平底鞋一經(jīng)推出，立即獲得了成功。該公司很快又推出了一款尖頭鞋，它現(xiàn)在是該公司最受歡迎的款式，然后又是一款樂(lè)福鞋和一款運(yùn)動(dòng)鞋。Rothy’s公司高技術(shù)、個(gè)性化和直接面向消費(fèi)者的模式以及密集的社交媒體宣傳使它立即成了網(wǎng)紅產(chǎn)品。它的美學(xué)和環(huán)保理念也相互交織，相輔相成。穿Rothy 's鞋的女性非但不介意，而且很欣賞她們腳上的鞋子是由廢舊塑料水瓶做成的。而且這也說(shuō)明了一個(gè)道理——作為一家企業(yè)，不管你多創(chuàng)新，多有社會(huì)責(zé)任感，如果鞋子的樣式不美觀，消費(fèi)者也是不會(huì)穿的。

打造網(wǎng)紅爆款

Rothy 's會(huì)不斷更新它與消費(fèi)者的聯(lián)系，它會(huì)定期給消費(fèi)者發(fā)郵件，告訴消費(fèi)者自己又上了哪些新顏色，有哪些造型和款式的創(chuàng)意。它在社交網(wǎng)站Instagram上有25萬(wàn)余名粉絲。就連Instagram上跟這個(gè)品牌有關(guān)的幾個(gè)熱門(mén)話題，比如各自吸引了幾千條評(píng)論的#rothysinthewild和#liveseamlessly，都是由它的消費(fèi)者自發(fā)發(fā)起的，跟Rothy’s的營(yíng)銷(xiāo)部門(mén)沒(méi)啥關(guān)系。

三年過(guò)后，穿Rothy’s的人走在大街上看見(jiàn)同好，都會(huì)會(huì)心地相互點(diǎn)頭或者對(duì)視一眼。有的人甚至?xí)哌^(guò)來(lái)問(wèn)：“你穿的是不是那個(gè)……”每個(gè)擁有一雙Rothy’s的女人，都至少有一次曾經(jīng)脫下一只鞋，邀請(qǐng)那個(gè)提問(wèn)的人穿一下試試。

洛溫伯格和她的團(tuán)隊(duì)保持著很高的設(shè)計(jì)熱情，基本上每隔幾個(gè)月就會(huì)推出一種新配色或者新款型，同時(shí)把一些舊設(shè)計(jì)打入冷宮。有些舊設(shè)計(jì)可能還會(huì)回來(lái)，有的就永遠(yuǎn)不會(huì)了。總之，它的設(shè)計(jì)一直在不斷調(diào)整。不過(guò)有些經(jīng)典款還是會(huì)一直上架的——比如海軍樂(lè)福鞋、黑色尖頭鞋（也就是梅根·馬克爾在新西蘭辦第一次跨國(guó)巡演時(shí)穿的那款）等等。今年，他們還推出了一款網(wǎng)眼結(jié)構(gòu)的“蜂巢鞋”。該公司的設(shè)計(jì)團(tuán)隊(duì)很喜歡用新設(shè)計(jì)吸引消費(fèi)者的眼球，比如用鳥(niǎo)眼圖案、亮珊瑚色迷彩，或者在炭黑色運(yùn)動(dòng)鞋上添加一個(gè)橙色的拉帶等等。洛溫伯格表示：“這些亮點(diǎn)設(shè)計(jì)非常有趣，我們并不指望靠它能帶來(lái)巨大的銷(xiāo)量，但是它能引起人們的情感反應(yīng)，同時(shí)能讓我們的網(wǎng)站保持新鮮感，這也是與非編織鞋類(lèi)品牌相比，我們所能做到的不一樣的地方?！?/p>

Rothy’s最初的啟動(dòng)資金全靠馬丁和霍桑斯韋特自己搞定，但它的產(chǎn)品上架之后，很快就開(kāi)始盈利了。馬丁表示，早期沒(méi)有太多外部投資，是他們有意為之的。該公司第一筆500萬(wàn)美元的外部融資，還是光速創(chuàng)投在2017年4月主動(dòng)找到他們提出了融資意向。Snapchat的第一個(gè)投資者杰里米·劉也表示，他和他的合伙人之所以注意到了Rothy’s，也是因?yàn)樗麄兊耐潞团笥牙锎㏑oth’s平底鞋的人變得越來(lái)越多了?！八漠a(chǎn)品產(chǎn)生了很高了熱情和聲譽(yù)，人們不僅自己喜歡穿，自己掏錢(qián)買(mǎi)，還不遺余力地推薦給身邊的朋友?！庇谑枪馑賱?chuàng)投便給Roth’s公司打去電話，雖然Rothy’s當(dāng)時(shí)并沒(méi)有尋求融資，但光速創(chuàng)投最終還是說(shuō)服他們接受了它的投資。

2018年，Rothy’s的營(yíng)收入達(dá)到1.4億美元，該公司總裁兼CEO凱利·庫(kù)珀表示，公司預(yù)期到今年年底，其營(yíng)收入將在去年的基礎(chǔ)上翻一番。2018年底，高盛又向該公司注資3500萬(wàn)美元，使它的外部融資總額達(dá)到4200萬(wàn)美元，估值更是達(dá)到了7億美元。

去年5月，Rothy’s利用部分融資在舊金山的菲爾莫街開(kāi)了一家小小的旗艦店。該公司計(jì)劃今年秋天在紐約、華盛頓和波士頓等地再開(kāi)五家店，這些城市也都是編織平底鞋消費(fèi)者的聚集地。

還有一些資金則被用在了它在東莞的工廠上。Rothy’s在東莞的工廠占地約25萬(wàn)平方英尺，擁有450多名員工和260臺(tái)針織機(jī)，其中20臺(tái)僅用于產(chǎn)品開(kāi)發(fā)。

美國(guó)市場(chǎng)上將近99%的鞋類(lèi)產(chǎn)品是從國(guó)外進(jìn)口的，其中從中國(guó)進(jìn)口的鞋類(lèi)產(chǎn)品占到70%。前幾年，受政治和經(jīng)貿(mào)因素影響，加之勞動(dòng)力成本上升等問(wèn)題，一些較大的鞋類(lèi)品牌正在緩慢降低對(duì)中國(guó)工廠的依賴度，同時(shí)將一些生產(chǎn)基地挪到印度、孟加拉國(guó)等亞洲其他國(guó)家，甚至是墨西哥。從9月1日起，美國(guó)再次對(duì)中國(guó)進(jìn)口產(chǎn)品加征15%的關(guān)稅，此輪加稅幾乎涉及了所有鞋類(lèi)產(chǎn)品。美國(guó)時(shí)裝設(shè)計(jì)師協(xié)會(huì)（CFDA）、美國(guó)鞋業(yè)經(jīng)銷(xiāo)商及零售商協(xié)會(huì)（FDRA）以及200多家美國(guó)公司均呼吁美國(guó)政府取消對(duì)華加征關(guān)稅，并表示供應(yīng)鏈的不確定性以及成本上升等因素給美國(guó)企業(yè)和消費(fèi)者造成的損失將達(dá)到40億美元。

庫(kù)珀承認(rèn)，Rothy’s在中國(guó)的投入是不遺余力的。雖然受到了關(guān)稅影響，但公司并沒(méi)有選擇轉(zhuǎn)移生產(chǎn)基地的余地，公司將自行消化這一影響。不過(guò)庫(kù)珀看起來(lái)并不十分擔(dān)心利潤(rùn)率受損的問(wèn)題。她表示：“對(duì)我們來(lái)說(shuō)，中國(guó)有很多熟練工人，而且供應(yīng)鏈非常強(qiáng)大，我們?cè)谥袊?guó)的生產(chǎn)效率高得令人難以置信。歸根結(jié)底，我們并不擔(dān)心關(guān)稅會(huì)影響我們的利潤(rùn)?！?/p>

雖然Rothy 's可能是最后一家在東莞制鞋的美國(guó)公司了，但該公司是自己建廠的，而不是將生產(chǎn)流程外包出去，這可能也是它成功的最大因素。與耐克、匡威或者凱迪這些大品牌不同，Rothy’s的整個(gè)供應(yīng)鏈都由它自己擁有和控制，包括材料使用和過(guò)剩產(chǎn)品銷(xiāo)毀等環(huán)節(jié)。根據(jù)它的DTC模式，它對(duì)于應(yīng)該在哪個(gè)市場(chǎng)銷(xiāo)售哪個(gè)款型、哪種顏色已經(jīng)積累了多年的數(shù)據(jù)。Rothy’s每推出一種新顏色，只需要賣(mài)上一天，它就能知道今天晚上還要不要繼續(xù)生產(chǎn)這款產(chǎn)品，因此它生產(chǎn)出來(lái)的鞋子剛好能夠滿足市場(chǎng)需求。

該公司一般很清楚Rothy’s的消費(fèi)者喜歡什么，但時(shí)不時(shí)也總會(huì)有驚喜。比如令洛溫伯格感到十分驚喜的是，今年一款黃銅色的尖頭鞋（一種比較適合春天的色調(diào)）竟然大受歡迎，銷(xiāo)量一度超過(guò)了黑色尖頭鞋。當(dāng)然，不盡人意的時(shí)候也是有的。比如她曾以為有一款黑色鞋和一款海軍迷彩色的鞋會(huì)賣(mài)得很好，結(jié)果卻受到了冷遇。另外，同一款色調(diào)，基本上都是尖頭比圓頭賣(mài)得更好，但有一款蟒紋色卻是圓頭比尖頭賣(mài)得更好。而他們也根據(jù)市場(chǎng)的反饋?zhàn)隽苏{(diào)整。

這種調(diào)整相比于提前18個(gè)月訂貨，等到銷(xiāo)售周期快結(jié)束才發(fā)現(xiàn)生產(chǎn)得太多了或者太少了，實(shí)在算不上什么。今年春天，Rothy 's本打算推出首款非編織產(chǎn)品——一款人造革涼鞋。但是直到離產(chǎn)品上市只剩不到48小時(shí)時(shí)，Rothy 's才在最后一批樣品中發(fā)現(xiàn)了質(zhì)量問(wèn)題。為了避免上市產(chǎn)品存在質(zhì)量隱患，公司決定取消產(chǎn)品發(fā)布，并且立即發(fā)郵件給消費(fèi)者，好讓消費(fèi)者提前知道消息。該公司采取這樣的做法，是很多人都沒(méi)有想到的。該公司后來(lái)提前10天發(fā)布了蜂巢鞋的夏季顏色。由于它的解釋起了作用，消費(fèi)者的不滿情緒很快消退了。（庫(kù)珀表示，這款涼鞋仍將于2020年上市。）

對(duì)行業(yè)的長(zhǎng)期影響

霍桑斯韋特今年6月因?yàn)榻】翟蛲司幽缓?，CEO一職目前由馬丁臨時(shí)擔(dān)任。馬丁認(rèn)為，Rothy’s的鞋子當(dāng)然是很具有創(chuàng)新性的，但是影響最大的，還是Roth’s的生產(chǎn)戰(zhàn)略。他表示：“我們不會(huì)把材料用在一些可能賣(mài)不出去的東西上，也不會(huì)把它們不必要地運(yùn)到世界各地，也不會(huì)生產(chǎn)包裝盒去裝那些可能賣(mài)不出去的產(chǎn)品。這個(gè)行業(yè)壞就壞在了這些事情上?！?/p>

為了設(shè)計(jì)和可靠地生產(chǎn)一雙完美的鞋子，Rothy’s公司付出了4年的努力，終于解決了制鞋行業(yè)的其他企業(yè)面臨的很多挑戰(zhàn)。而與此同時(shí)，業(yè)內(nèi)的很多品牌仍然在為可持續(xù)發(fā)展的問(wèn)題頭疼。目前，制鞋行業(yè)的中小品牌里，已經(jīng)很少有像Rothy’s和Allbirds（舊金山的另一家鞋類(lèi)創(chuàng)業(yè)公司，其原材料為利用甘蔗廢料生產(chǎn)的纖維和泡沫材料）這樣，既堅(jiān)持使用可持續(xù)性原料，又有精工細(xì)作的好產(chǎn)品，且業(yè)務(wù)還在慢慢擴(kuò)張的品牌了。

在有些人看來(lái)，可持續(xù)發(fā)展雖然說(shuō)起來(lái)熱鬧，但它的含義卻很模糊——可持續(xù)發(fā)展到底是什么意思？誰(shuí)來(lái)給它下個(gè)定義？桑福德伯恩斯坦公司奢侈品市場(chǎng)分析師盧卡·索爾卡表示，目前整個(gè)行業(yè)已經(jīng)出現(xiàn)了一種轉(zhuǎn)型的跡象，“今天所有的認(rèn)證都是自我界定的，而且（各大品牌）負(fù)責(zé)可持續(xù)發(fā)展事務(wù)的負(fù)責(zé)人，都是原來(lái)公關(guān)部門(mén)的負(fù)責(zé)人。”而更好地將可持續(xù)發(fā)展理念融入上游生產(chǎn)環(huán)節(jié)，則是鞋類(lèi)公司向可持續(xù)發(fā)展轉(zhuǎn)型的唯一“嚴(yán)肅選擇”。

美國(guó)鞋業(yè)經(jīng)銷(xiāo)商及零售商協(xié)會(huì)（FDRA）高級(jí)副會(huì)長(zhǎng)安迪·波爾克則樂(lè)觀地表示，小小的一步也會(huì)帶來(lái)巨大的變革?！澳惚仨毭鞔_可持續(xù)發(fā)展對(duì)你的品牌意味著什么。”另外企業(yè)還需要計(jì)算一些東西，比如廢料里有哪些東西可以回收，水的浪費(fèi)情況，能源使用情況等等，然后還應(yīng)該與供應(yīng)商、貨運(yùn)公司和倉(cāng)庫(kù)進(jìn)行深入研究?！澳阋堰@個(gè)生態(tài)系統(tǒng)描繪出來(lái)，看有哪些地方可以改進(jìn)?！泵绹?guó)鞋類(lèi)企業(yè)有90%都是FDRA的會(huì)員，該組織也致力于向各大品牌和零售商提供資源和工具，推動(dòng)他們向可持續(xù)發(fā)展模式轉(zhuǎn)型。方法之一就是促進(jìn)行業(yè)內(nèi)的知識(shí)分享，波爾克也希望Rothy’s在這方面能做得更多。

波爾克表示：“他們?cè)趯?zhuān)注于消費(fèi)者和講故事上做得很好?！辈贿^(guò)他認(rèn)為，Rothy’s“有機(jī)會(huì)成為一個(gè)真正的領(lǐng)導(dǎo)者”，并表示希望Rothy’s未來(lái)能進(jìn)一步開(kāi)放自己的流程，以鼓勵(lì)其他品牌在必要的地方進(jìn)行投資，和承擔(dān)轉(zhuǎn)型所需要的風(fēng)險(xiǎn)?！澳阒溃疂q起來(lái)了，就會(huì)抬高所有的船?！?/p>

索爾卡也認(rèn)為，某種形式的透明度對(duì)于推動(dòng)行業(yè)變革是很必要的。他還表示，一些業(yè)內(nèi)的小眾玩家，通過(guò)每一件產(chǎn)品，讓消費(fèi)者明明白白地看見(jiàn)，他們“在工匠精神和可持續(xù)發(fā)展上是說(shuō)到做到的”。從而也會(huì)迫使那些大品牌向他們看齊。

切爾西靴

與此同時(shí)，Rothy’s的切爾西靴已經(jīng)攜8種配色正式上架了，其中3種是有圖案的。你可以在這雙靴子中看到一雙運(yùn)動(dòng)鞋的精神。其中唯一顯得不那么運(yùn)動(dòng)的是，是一款比較古典的白色。洛溫伯格表示，她目前最喜歡的是一款，采用的是比較柔和的炭黑色和橄欖色的混合配色，給人以一種現(xiàn)代的中性感?！拔蚁矚g做這種中性色調(diào)的產(chǎn)品。我們的客戶也喜歡高雅、漂亮的基本款?！?/p>

洛溫伯格最喜歡的這種配色，被Rothy’s命名為“迷霧灰”，非常適合今年秋天穿——或者是舊金山的全年。（財(cái)富中文網(wǎng)）

譯者：樸成奎

On a corner in San Francisco’s Jackson Square, formerly part of the city’s famed Barbary Coast and now an enclave of design firms and disruptive start-ups, the fog swirls just beyond the windows that run the length of Rothy’s headquarters. The fog is so thick and ever-present the locals have named it Karl. But inside, surrounded by whitewashed walls and blonde wood, a small team are designing and shipping distinctive women's shoes made entirely of recycled water bottles knitted into a soft, flexible flat. The shoes have captured the attention of women across the country—and some big investors, too.

Down a steep stairway and through a cavern of rooms, sits the Rothy’s design studio. Amidst vibrant spools of thread made from water bottles and mood boards with color swatches, Creative Director Erin Lowenberg and her team have been working since January on a new silhouette: an ankle boot called The Chelsea, which launched this week.

The company that made its mark with ballet-style flats and then expanded with a sneaker is giving its customers what they have been asking for since nearly the beginning, which is to be able to wear their Rothy’s all year-round. Customers gave prodigious feedback about wanting a shoe that covered more of their foot and Rothy’s, which thinks a lot about their product being at “the front of the closet,” wanted to have “more seasonal relevance in the back half of the year,” Lowenberg said.

The design team used the Chelsea boot as inspiration for its version, both for its practicality and as a proven silhouette that “we could make beautiful and comfortable,” Lowenberg said. They began with the Rothy's sneaker’s sole as the foundation, given its additional height and thickness. The team quickly determined that to align with the previous silhouettes’ washability and materials, they wouldn’t introduce a zipper or leather, which meant the boot would need to stretch open and have a pull tab in the back. And which meant like all the previous designs, with no laces or closures, the fit had to be perfect.

Some might argue that Rothy's timing has been pretty perfect as well. The company has burst onto the scene as little known practices in the retail world have come under public scrutiny in the last couple of years, particularly the problem of what to do with the millions of units of clothing and shoes that go unsold each season. Some end up donated, a lot of it ends up in a landfill and then the remainder is—literally—incinerated. Rothy's hasn't just made use of innovative materials, it has designed a whole supply chain that has taken the industry’s traditional chain bogged down with scrapped material, overproduction of product and energy costs on transporting excess down to “virtually zero,” according to its founders.

Startup story

Rothy's was founded back in 2012, when co-founder Roth Martin, who was ready to leave the gallery world, noticed the proliferation of Lululemon yoga pants in San Francisco—on his wife, at the grocery store, downtown, everywhere. And while the stretchy black pants had gone from being a niche piece to a wardrobe staple, swinging from styled casually to more put together, there was not a shoe equivalent. Over dinner one night, Martin told his friend, Stephen Hawthornthwaite, about what appeared to be an opportunity for a woman’s flat that was comfortable enough to be a staple, but more stylish than a workout shoe—and used innovative materials. Hawthornthwaite, it so happened, was looking to exit finance for something more entrepreneurial.

Within a year, the duo had determined that the flat would be made out of plastic water bottles, something in plentiful supply and not entirely new to the textile world, thanks to Patagonia’s fleeced yarn. The Rothy’s pair decided to develop a non-fleeced yarn from the plastic bottles (that have been melted into pellets and then extruded into soft, flexible strands) that could be knitted. The next step in sustainability was in how to use the yarn. They had discovered during this process how wasteful shoe manufacturing could be, how much raw material ends up on the cutting room floor, and so they decided to eliminate the cutting process. If they could develop a 3D knitting process for the entire upper, which hadn’t been done, then Rothy’s would be using only material that went into the shoe, no more.

Another year was spent in a factory in Maine making prototype after prototype—“it was a very long development time to get this process correct,” Martin says. But the 3D knitting meant no cutting at all, which meant no seams, which meant no additional construction, which meant the fit had to be perfect. The pair concluded that the scale and skill to achieve this meant going to China. There is a very small margin for error in the printing process, and the depth in skilled labor with the programming and the finishing work done by hand, including stitching the upper to the rubber sole, in 55 more steps off the knitting machine, was only available there. Martin and Hawthornthwaite also knew they couldn’t contract it out. “It is so hard to do, it’s why we had to set up our own manufacturing process that’s not one that’s easy to replicate,” Martin said.

In 2015, they set up shop in Dongguan with two knitting machines and a programmer. The following year, they began selling their first batch online in the U.S., while continuing to build out a factory in the southern Chinese city.

The flat was an immediate success and the company soon added a pointed toe style, now the most popular, and then a loafer and a sneaker. Rothy’s high-touch direct-to-consumer model and heavy social media made an immediate impact. The aesthetic and the sustainability story are intertwined and interdependent. The women who wear Rothy’s enjoy the water bottle origin story of their shoe, that it telegraphs a message as innovative or responsible as you want, but they wouldn’t wear them if they didn’t love how they look.

On the 'gram

The company continuously refreshes its connection with the consumer, sending regular emails with updates on a color launch, styling ideas or teasing a new silhouette. The shoe company has over 250,000 followers on Instagram and such a developed brand identity that its Rothy’s wearers, not its marketing department, who are responsible for the thousands of posts of #rothysinthewild and #liveseamlessly.

Three years in, Rothy’s wearers acknowledge each other with a shared look or brief nod and are used to being approached in public, “Are those the….?” Everyone who owns a pair of Rothy’s has, at least once, stepped out of their pair and insisted that an inquirer try them on.

Lowenberg and her team keep the interest level high, launching new hues and patterns every few months, while swapping out colors and one-off designs and sending them into retirement. Some might come back, some might never return. It’s a constant curation, while certain classics—a navy loafer, the black point (worn by Meghan Markle in New Zealand on her first international tour)—remain in stock. This year, they launched a “honeycomb” style and added a mesh texture for the summer. The design team likes to surprise and delight with small capsule launches, a birds-eye pattern or a bright coral camo or an orange pull tab on a normally all-charcoal sneaker, capsules that are “fun and they aren’t meant to be massive volume drivers, as much as they’re emotional and they keep our website fresh and it’s what we can do differently than any other footwear brand that isn’t knit,” she explained.

Martin and Hawthornthwaite bootstrapped the financing of the development process, and once they went to market, the shoes were profitable. The limited outside capital in the early days was by design, Martin said, and the first $5 million from Lightspeed Venture Partners in April 2017 was unsolicited. Jeremy Liew, who was the first investor in Snapchat, said he and his partners noticed the brand as the flats proliferated amongst friends and colleagues. “The fact the product generated that sort of enthusiasm, that reputation, not just in people loving the product and buying it, but evangelizing it to their friends.” So Lightspeed called Rothy’s, which wasn’t looking to raise capital, and convinced the company their capital could help meet the demand.

Rothy’s pulled in $140 million in revenue in 2018 and President and COO Kerry Cooper confirms the expectation that Rothy’s will double that by the end of this year. At the end of 2018, Goldman Sachs infused $35 million into the company, bringing its outside funding up to $42 million and a valuation of $700 million.

Some of the funding was used to open Rothy’s tiny flagship store on Fillmore Street in May of last year, and the company has plans to add five more stores this fall, in markets like New York, Washington, D.C. and Boston, where there are large pockets of knitted flats wearers.

And some of that capital has been continuing to fund the real growth-driver that is in Dongguan, China. The Rothy’s factory now is 250,000 square feet, has over 450 employees and 260 knitting machines, 20 of which are used just for product development.

Almost 99% of the shoes in the United States are imported from elsewhere, 70% from China. In the last few years, amid political and trade uncertainties, as well as some rising labor costs, some bigger shoe brands have been slowly reducing their dependence on Chinese factories, diversifying their manufacturing to other countries in Asia, India and Bangladesh, and even Mexico. Now the industry is bracing for the impact of the 15% tariffs on Chinese imports, including almost all footwear, that went into effect on Sept. 1. The CFDA, the FDRA and more than 200 companies, called for their cancellation and spelled out the uncertainty of the supply chain, as well as the equal uncertainty on the shared hit to company and customer of rising costs, as much as $4 billion.

Cooper acknowledges that Rothy’s is all in on China. There is no option to diversify, based on tariffs. The company will absorb the impact, though doesn’t seem terribly worried it will lower the margin. “For us, there is so much skilled labor in China, and the supply chain is so strong that our production in China is incredibly efficient. Ultimately, we’re not concerned about tariffs impacting our bottom line,” she said.

Even if Rothy’s remains the last American company producing shoes in Dongguan, the company’s decision to build its own factory, rather than contract out, might be the biggest factor in Rothy’s success. Because unlike Nike or Converse or Keds, Rothy’s owns and controls its entire supply chain, down to the materials used and the elimination of production excess. Because of its DTC model, it now has years of data about what silhouettes sell in what colors in what markets. When Rothy’s launches a new color, it knows after one day of selling if it will continue making it that night, producing just enough pairs to keep stock in line with demand.

The company generally has a good sense of what the Rothy’s customer likes, but there are always surprises. Lowenberg was delighted that the point in copper, a springtime hue, was so popular it briefly surpassed the black point. On the flip side, a subtle black and navy camo print she thought was going to be a hit got a cool reception. And while points almost always outperform flats in the same color, the round-toe has surged past in the fig python. And so they adjust.

The course correction is much smaller than ordering 18 months out and producing (and shipping) too much or not enough by the end of the selling cycle. When Rothy’s was on the cusp of launching its first non-knitted silhouette in the spring, a sandal made of vegan leather, it only discovered quality issues in the final sample batch less than 48 hours before going on sale. The team decided to pull the launch, better to not go into production if quality was remotely a question mark—and emailed customers, who’d days earlier gotten news of the sandal, to let them know it was called off. It was an unexpected step from the company, who pushed up its launch of honeycomb in summer colors ten days early, that quickly receded because the explanation made sense. (Cooper says the sandal will still make its appearance in 2020.)

Lasting impact

Martin is now interim CEO after Hawthornthwaite stepped back in June for health reasons. He thinks that while the company's shoes are certainly innovative, it's Rothy's production strategy that could have the biggest impact. "We’re not committing materials to something that’s maybe not going to get sold and we’re not committing to shipping it around the world unnecessarily. We’re not committing to making boxes to put products in that may not get sold and the industry is just broken in this way.”

The four-year process to create and reliably produce the shoe’s perfect fit, and which had been such a headache, ended up eliminating many of the challenges the rest of the footwear industry is now facing as brands grapple with how to address sustainability. There are few smaller brands like Rothy’s or Allbirds, another San Francisco-based shoe start-up that focused on using sustainable materials (in their case wool and foam produced from sugar cane waste) to make one product really well with mindful manufacturing and then slowly expanded.

For some, the talk of sustainability is buzzy, but its meaning elusive—what does sustainability mean and who defines it? Sanford Bernstein’s Luca Solca says an industry shift is early in stage and that “today all certifications are self-defined and the heads of sustainability [at brands] are, in most cases, former heads of PR.” The luxury goods analyst believes that integrating better processes upstream in their manufacturing is the only “serious option” for shoe companies to transform.

Andy Polk, senior vice president at the FDRA, is optimistic that small steps will beget large change. “You really have to define what it means for your brand,” he said, and then companies need to measure things like shoe waste and what’s recyclable, water waste, energy usage, and digging in with suppliers, freight companies, warehouses. “Part of the ecosystem of mapping it out and figuring out where you can make improvements,” Polk said, implementing smaller changes and then going further on material and production innovation. The trade organization, of which 90% of the American shoe industry belongs, has turned much of its efforts to providing resources and tools for brands and retailers to shift to more sustainable models. One component of this is sharing knowledge amongst peers, of which Polk wishes that Rothy’s was doing more.

“They have done a great job of focusing on the consumer and telling that story,” he said, but he thinks that Rothy’s has “an opportunity to be a real leader” and be more forthcoming and open about their own processes, which would encourage other brands to invest where needed and take on the risk of transforming their practices. “You know, a rising tide lifts all boats,” Polk said.

Solca also thinks that a transparency, of sorts, is what will drive industry change and that smaller niche players, who “put their money where their mouth is on craftsmanship and sustainability” and make that apparent to the consumers on each product will pressure larger brands to do the same.

And the boot

Meanwhile, the boot is kicking off in eight colors, three of which are patterns. You can see the bones of the sneaker in it, though the antique white of the sole is meant to look less sporty. Lowenberg says her current favorite is a muted charcoal and olive palette that looks like a modern neutral. “I love doing these neutrals,” she said. “Our customer loves an elevated, beautiful basic.”

This one is called Fog Melange. Perfect for fall—or year-round, in San Francisco.