Birkenstock is celebrating its 250th anniversary. To mark the occasion, the company is releasing a new content series that aims to showcase “two and a half centuries of quality, innovation and craftsmanship in images.” The book series, whose central work is the “Book of Birkenstock”, shows the “diverse design skills and the profound cultural significance” that the brand has developed over the years. In addition to historical documents and snapshots from fans, the book also contains fashion editorials from Japan, France and the USA. In addition to the book, Birkenstock is launching a digital brand encyclopedia that digitizes the Book of Birkenstock and makes it interactively accessible. Over 600 archive images and journalistic content are bundled here and made accessible via filter options according to eras, models and locations.
In addition, a four-part book series “Old Mills Never Die” is being published, which is intended to provide an artificial examination of the brand. “Walk This Way” by Henry Leutwyler shows treasures from the archive and production, “Factories” by Werner Bartsch documents the production facilities in Germany. “Golborne Road” by Juergen Teller presents authentic scenes from London, while “Graphic Designer” highlights the graphic legacy of Carl Birkenstock. The volumes are all wrapped in furoshiki cloth and presented in a wooden box. The offering is complemented by a curated exhibition: “Walk This Way” presents 140 photographs by Henry Leutwyler. The exhibition will be shown in Tokyo, Paris, São Paulo, Melbourne, London and Munich, among others.
“The Book of Birkenstock” and “Old Mills Never Die” are available in the online shop of the Göttingen Steidl Verlag for 75 and 175 euros respectively.