Geox is an Italian brand of

shoe A shoe is an item of footwear intended to protect and comfort the human foot. They are often worn with a sock. Shoes are also used as an item of decoration and fashion. The design of shoes has varied enormously through time and from cultur ...

and

clothing Clothing (also known as clothes, apparel, and attire) are items worn on the body. Typically, clothing is made of fabrics or textiles, but over time it has included garments made from animal skin and other thin sheets of materials and natura ...

manufactured with waterproof/breathable fabrics.

Corporate history

Geox, Oxford Street, London, March 2016 01

The company was founded in 1995 by Mario Polegato. The brand name, Geox, was created from a mixture between the Greek word “geo” (earth), and “x”, a letter-element symbolizing technology. Polegato was born in 1952 near

Treviso Treviso ( , ; vec, Trevixo) is a city and '' comune'' in the Veneto region of northern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Treviso and the municipality has 84,669 inhabitants (as of September 2017). Some 3,000 live within the Vene ...

. Originally groomed to take over the family wine-making business, company promotional material has it that the idea for the shoe came when he participated in a wine industry conference in

Reno Reno ( ) is a city in the northwest section of the U.S. state of Nevada, along the Nevada-California border, about north from Lake Tahoe, known as "The Biggest Little City in the World". Known for its casino and tourism industry, Reno is th ...

; while out jogging in Reno's hot desert climate, his feet got hot from the exertion and he had the idea to cut a couple of holes in the soles of his shoes with a Swiss Army knife. He developed the idea into a viable product with the help of a small leather-goods business his family owned. After unsuccessfully pitching his invention to several established footwear manufacturers, but after having passed the market testing phase for a line of children’s footwear, Polegato began large-scale production of shoes under the Geox brand name. That same year, he improved the original patent and extended the product range to men’s and women’s footwear. Production sites are in China, Indonesia and Vietnam. In July 2021, Geox announced the closure of its Vranje plant in Serbia. The plant was opened in 2015. This closure will lead to the loss of 1,200 jobs.

Research and development

The Geox group has consistently invested in innovation, ever since it was founded. Its Montebelluna head offices are host to R&D facilities, which are unique in their kind. Here, 15 engineers, chemists and physicists are employed in research on perspiration and human-generated heat-movement patterns, testing all materials used in their footwear and manufacturing clothing. The Montebelluna-based team of scientists have created and patented new machinery to help them pursue their research. Geox also works with major research labs and universities to test and refine new technology.

References

External links

*
Corporate site
{{Portal, Companies * Geox Retailers
The Shoe Box of Knowle
Clothing manufacturers Sportswear brands Shoe brands Clothing companies established in 1995 Retail companies established in 1995 Clothing brands of Italy Sporting goods manufacturers of Italy Shoe companies of Italy Italian companies established in 1995 Companies based in Veneto Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2020