Jockey wants to challenge the sneaker giant

The shoes made by the Italian shoemaker have breathable soles, is a running shoe under test that will make Nike and Adidas emerge a cold sweat it? Barcelona In the morning on Saturday, two well-dressed women in their 30s are enjoying the rhinestone-decorated sandals and open-toed black flip-flops in a Geox boutique with a gray-haired Old woman is looking at gray boots, and a father is helping his two young children trying on sneakers. The only thing commonplace in the shops is the shoe's sole - the soles are covered with thousands of small holes that are impermeable to water and air. In recent years, according to the needs of different clients, Gentlewos designs various shoes that will breathe and train a group of loyal followers around the world for themselves. Now, the company intends to further expand its customer base, ready to enter the global sports shoes market. On April 2, Geely introduced a series of new running shoes that, according to Mario Morelati, Polo-Gitos, the 55-year-old chairman and founder, make sweaty, stinky feet "Becoming the past." Seek continuous growth In 1989, when the power of the Baltic Guitar walk under the sun can no longer tolerate his sweaty feet, he had a lot of holes in his shoe so that it inspired him to design a breathing shoes. After trying to instill the concept of the industry giants Nike and Adidas, Pollocke decided to do it themselves. In 1995 he founded a Gentleman company, initially making shoes for children and then expanding into adult shoes and clothing. Pollockito is planning the next move. Last year, the company sold 21 million pairs of shoes, with sales revenue up 26% to $ 1.2 billion and profits up 26% to $ 193 million. However, the shares of Gentlest in Milan have fallen 27% this year, largely because investors are worried that it will struggle to maintain the 30% growth rate they have maintained over the past five years. Peter Fallon, an analyst at Bryan Garnier Investment Bank, said: "Regardless of how good a jumper is in terms of sneaker sales, it must continue to keep its regular street shoes and apparel business up." However, sports shoes and ordinary street shoes vary greatly. Sweating in the running midfoot doubled and can not be exuded from normal athletic shoes. The new Georgette series replaces the traditional rubber sole with a waterproof, breathable film covering the sole of the running shoe but only used in the forefoot on the other models of the Geeks. Another feature of sports shoes is the addition of extra linings and a support web made of synthetic fibers to make the film more durable. Marketing slogans like "Breathing Sneakers" may attract some attention, but it is not easy to win customers from big brands. According to the industry newsletter "Sports Goods Intelligence" estimates, the two giants Nike and Adidas control nearly 60% of the global market share. Both have a large group of big stars to help out, and their customers not only focus on comfortable fit, but also convinced that the shoes lining and the necessary support allows them to avoid sports injuries. John Howlan, publisher of the industry newsletter, said: "The category of running shoes is fiercely competitive and each brand has a high degree of consumer loyalty, and if it wants to enter the market with a high profile, it must emphasize stability and Air pads. "Adidas now also offers breathable sneakers, which the company claims can improve foot dryness by as much as 20% while ensuring optimal sports performance. Poloqueto does not care about this. Geeks will try out its running shoes to existing customers, a move that works well for selling regular street shoes and clothing. If the sales of new products are promising, he said that other sports products will be handled in the same way. To date, most of the innovations aimed at sports shoes have been made to improve their performance. Poloquitos said the new ghosting technology comes from a totally different philosophy, emphasizing comfort that outweighs the competition. He said: "The feet always breathe."