On a current stroll by my native Allbirds retailer in Harvard Sq., I needed to do a double take. Within the window, the model was promoting its new Varsity assortment: a ’70s-inspired sneaker line with a rubber sole and a female shade palette that weaves collectively pink, olive inexperienced, mustard, and brick crimson. It’s an unmistakably modern shoe that wouldn’t look misplaced at New Balance and Saucony, and even Valentino and Celine.
Allbirds, which launched in 2014, isn’t identified for chasing developments. It has at all times led with sustainability, beginning with the “wool runner” that shortly turned a cult sneaker in tech circles. Through the years, it hasn’t strayed removed from this authentic aesthetic. It’s made high-tops, efficiency trainers, and slip-ons with a quiet, minimal design so the main target would stay on the supplies.
Allbirds has by no means marketed itself to sneaker heads, however a decade later, the sneaker panorama appears to be like very totally different. Sustainability is now not a differentiator; it’s desk stakes. In the meantime, trend has swung decisively towards classic silhouettes, expressive shade, and sneakers that really feel as thought-about as the remainder of one’s outfit. Towards that backdrop, Allbirds started to really feel static—and clients, it appears, observed.
Since going public in 2021, the corporate’s inventory has fallen roughly 80%, leaving it with a market capitalization of roughly $32 million as of early 2026. In 2024, Allbirds reported $190 million in income, down from $254 million the yr earlier than. Newer monetary stories present continued income declines and ongoing losses. In January, the corporate introduced it will shut all 20 of its full-price U.S. shops by the top of this month as a part of a broader effort to chop prices. (Two outlet shops, in California and Massachusetts, will stay open.)
The stakes are excessive. A model that when felt like a class disruptor is now in reset mode. Inside Allbirds, the design staff isn’t simply chasing monetary survival—it’s chasing relevance. The corporate’s comeback technique hinges on a transparent pivot: leaning more durable into trend, focusing on girls extra deliberately, and increasing its aesthetic with out abandoning its dedication to sustainability.
Transferring Past the Wool Runner
The Varsity assortment is the clearest expression but of the model’s try and broaden its visible language with out dropping its id. “The query we’ve been wrestling with is learn how to keep true to what Allbirds is whereas pushing into new areas and turning into extra related to extra individuals,” says Erin Sander, who joined Allbirds a yr in the past as VP of product and merchandising after a decade at Sorel.
Over the previous 5 years, classic sneakers have dominated trend, as heritage manufacturers like New Steadiness, Adidas, and Saucony dug into their archives to revive types from the ’70s and ’80s. Varsity attracts from that very same retro runner custom—however filters it by way of the restraint, consolation obsession, and supplies philosophy of Allbirds.
In contrast with rivals’ chunky soles, Varsity’s rubber outsole is slim and pared again. The silhouette is streamlined somewhat than cumbersome. Inside, the shoe is lined with wool, a well-known contact for longtime Allbirds clients.
The place the shoe actually distinguishes itself, although, is in its materiality. Most sneakers depend on typical cotton, leather-based, and petroleum-based plastics. Varsity, in contrast, is constructed completely from extra sustainable options. The higher is constituted of a mix of natural cotton and hemp, a carbon-negative crop. The leather-based accents come from recycled leather-based scraps. And the only real is constituted of a sugarcane-derived plastic.
Growing Varsity has given Allbirds a brand new design playbook: Take widespread, in-demand sneaker types and retrofit them with lower-impact supplies.
That very same strategy is now extending into extra elevated footwear. The corporate has recognized demand for leather-based sneakers that may plausibly change costume footwear—and has gone looking for a cloth that appears and seems like leather-based with out carrying the identical environmental price.
That search led Allbirds to Fashionable Meadow, whose suede-like materials Innovera is constituted of plant proteins, biopolymers, and recycled rubber. It’s being utilized in footwear for the primary time within the newly launched Allbirds Terralux collection, which incorporates skater, runner, and vintage-inspired silhouettes.
Talking to Girls
The Varsity assortment additionally displays a deeper strategic shift. Allbirds is now explicitly designing and marketing with girls in thoughts. Whereas the model has at all times had feminine clients, it has typically been perceived as male-coded, partly as a result of it first took off among the many male-dominated Silicon Valley set.
When CMO Kelly Olmstead joined Allbirds after twenty years at Adidas, she discovered that this notion doesn’t align with the information. The client base really skews barely feminine, and this discovery helped her crystalize a brand new route. “Girls management north of 80% of the acquisition choices in a family,” Olmstead says. “Girls have to be high of thoughts once we’re fascinated by what we make, how we make it, and what she needs.”
Coloration has turn into a key software in that repositioning. After years of neutrals and subdued tones, the model is embracing richer, extra female palettes—dusty reds, earthy blues, heat yellows—that really feel expressive with out turning the shoe into an announcement piece. “Footwear is an adjunct, particularly for her,” Sander says.
The model’s current advertising reinforces that message by spotlighting girls. Its spring marketing campaign options actress Justine Lupe (of No person Needs This), editor and TV host Elaine Welteroth, movie star make-up artist Nikki DeRoest, and entrepreneur Grace Cheng. Olmstead says they embody the Allbirds buyer: girls juggling careers, households, and social lives, who need footwear that appears polished however works all day lengthy.
For Olmstead, this push to develop the model’s aesthetic and viewers seems like a pure subsequent step. Coming from Adidas, a 75-year-old heritage model, she sees Allbirds as simply rising from startup mode—and getting into a extra demanding section of its life.
“Ten years in, it sort of feels like we’re coming by way of our teenage years,” Olmstead. “Now it’s about rising up.”
