Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Live At Daybreak

Sole Woman: Birken-Business

Aired August 01, 2003 - 05:43   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: It's hip to be in fashion. It's even hipper to be in step with supermodel Heidi Klum.
CNN's Malika Kapur tells us why.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MALIKA KAPUR, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Comfortable and functional, hardly the kind of shoe you'd expect on the feet of a catwalk queen, but supermodel Heidi Klum doesn't just dance around in Birkenstocks, she designs them. A super turnaround for the brand better known for its orthopedic value, cork soles, thick straps and dark colors.

DIRK FUHRMANN, BIRKENSTOCK U.K.: It was a waste (ph) of shoes of the vegetarian scene, Muesli eaters. Over in Germany, they have been worn by nuns and teachers and nurses for years and years. So nobody there is actually wearing them out.

KAPUR: They are certainly wearing them in London these days. These people are lining up outside, despite the rain, waiting to step into the shoe shop. Inside, the Klum-inspired shoes are flying off the shelves.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Two of my friends have got Birkenstock shoes and I wear them all the time.

KAPUR: You wear theirs?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I wear theirs. Well I'm always running around on the outside (UNINTELLIGIBLE). They're so comfortable.

KAPUR: And also fashionable.

SAIRY XX, "ELLE" MAGAZINE: Fashion editors, stylists, models, they all wear them. You know they're just a brilliant alternative to (UNINTELLIGIBLE) heels. Lots of models, they all have them. They just kind of love to wear them. I think that's why it's got that sort of fashion credibility.

KAPUR: It's also credible business for Birkenstock. The company says store sales, typically up at 10 or 15 percent a year, have doubled in the last year. It also says Internet sales have skyrocketed. They're up 500 percent.

FUHRMANN: It has been absolutely crazy. We've been swept off our feet in the shops as well as on the mail order side of things. But business has been growing over the past 30 years, but nothing prepared us for what happened this year.

KAPUR: Birkenstock, no doubt, hoping the craze for its sandals isn't just a passing fashion and going from hippie to hip is the right step.

Malika Kapur, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com







Aired August 1, 2003 - 05:43   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: It's hip to be in fashion. It's even hipper to be in step with supermodel Heidi Klum.
CNN's Malika Kapur tells us why.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MALIKA KAPUR, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Comfortable and functional, hardly the kind of shoe you'd expect on the feet of a catwalk queen, but supermodel Heidi Klum doesn't just dance around in Birkenstocks, she designs them. A super turnaround for the brand better known for its orthopedic value, cork soles, thick straps and dark colors.

DIRK FUHRMANN, BIRKENSTOCK U.K.: It was a waste (ph) of shoes of the vegetarian scene, Muesli eaters. Over in Germany, they have been worn by nuns and teachers and nurses for years and years. So nobody there is actually wearing them out.

KAPUR: They are certainly wearing them in London these days. These people are lining up outside, despite the rain, waiting to step into the shoe shop. Inside, the Klum-inspired shoes are flying off the shelves.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Two of my friends have got Birkenstock shoes and I wear them all the time.

KAPUR: You wear theirs?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I wear theirs. Well I'm always running around on the outside (UNINTELLIGIBLE). They're so comfortable.

KAPUR: And also fashionable.

SAIRY XX, "ELLE" MAGAZINE: Fashion editors, stylists, models, they all wear them. You know they're just a brilliant alternative to (UNINTELLIGIBLE) heels. Lots of models, they all have them. They just kind of love to wear them. I think that's why it's got that sort of fashion credibility.

KAPUR: It's also credible business for Birkenstock. The company says store sales, typically up at 10 or 15 percent a year, have doubled in the last year. It also says Internet sales have skyrocketed. They're up 500 percent.

FUHRMANN: It has been absolutely crazy. We've been swept off our feet in the shops as well as on the mail order side of things. But business has been growing over the past 30 years, but nothing prepared us for what happened this year.

KAPUR: Birkenstock, no doubt, hoping the craze for its sandals isn't just a passing fashion and going from hippie to hip is the right step.

Malika Kapur, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com