If kicks could talk, Geox’s ultra-limited edition little number with a fierce dragon ready to leap forth before a bright red wall would without doubt roar with fire. At US$888, the Spherica EC4.1 LNY Collectible Edition designed by Hong Kong’s The Flying Hawk Studio won’t fit with many budgets – which is probably just as well given only 88 pairs were made. But to Geox, this is more than a shoe with a hand-drawn dragon, “symbolising evolution, improvement, and abundance silhouetted against a shiny white fine-grain leather sneaker”. The release is a milestone for a company on a mission to reposition itself, with Asia as a central future growth pillar.  One recent night, key executives from Geox’s Montebelluna, Italy, headquarters gathered in Hong Kong’s contemporary Chinese eatery Madame Fu in the territory’s Tai Kwun heritage compound, to celebrate the LNY collectible edition joined by influencers, Hong Kong-Canadian actress and former Miss Hong Kong Grace Chan, selected local fashion media – and Inside Retail. At first, the obvious question was, ‘Why so much fanfare over a shoe just 88 people would be able to buy (and at that price, most likely rarely wear)?’ But it soon became evident, that the entire event was not about a shoe, but a message: We are serious about Asia and we want you to know it.“This shoe is our first step towards gaining relevancy with the Asian consumer, especially younger consumers,” explained Geox’s Roberto Lobetti Bodoni, global chief marketing officer.“We really want to communicate to local consumers that we are taking a different approach than we did in the past. This is all about how we can get more relevant for Asian women and men and let them know about what Geox is all about – the science, the fashion and the design.” Until now, said the founder and chairman Mario Moretti Polegato, Geox has designed all of its products in Italy: “But we thought maybe we adopt this approach in Asia.” Bodoni said Geox’s core target demographic in Europe is 40 to 50, but in Asia, it is a decade younger at 30 to 40. While Geox is already batting high scores in multiple Asian markets – more about that later – the company believes it is only really starting. A journey that began with product adaptation is now advancing into store design, staff training and the embrace of sales channels like influencers and social media platforms that not so long ago might have seemed unimaginable for a conservative, traditional Italian shoemaker.  “We are really strong in our core markets of Italy, France, Spain, Germany, and the UK,” explained global CEO Livio Libralesso, who left the company on March 31. “But Asia Pacific is the fastest growing area in the world and it is clear that the customer is younger, more trendy and after the pandemic paying more attention to local style. For us, this is a challenge. We want to be international, so now we are investing more to match the Asian fit and the Asian style for these younger, trendier customers.”Not leaving anything to chance, Geox engaged two communities of local ‘sneakerheads’ to test the designs, providing feedback and helping shape the course of Geox’s creative pitch. “Worldwide, many brands have been able to revamp their core markets by exploiting trends experienced in Hong Kong and in China, for example. So Asia Pacific is a way for us to raise the bar for the company,” continued Libralesso.The changes in Asia reflect the company’s broader, global mission of repositioning itself from a premium footwear brand to a premium lifestyle brand – a process that includes changing its brand messaging – or communication as the Italian leadership team describes it. “Lifestyle is not only about product. Product is the king, communication is the queen. So we must also raise the bar of our communication towards values.” The message, he said, will not only be about the originality of Geox’s shoes and designs, but the benefits of science and technology integrated into the design. “We want to speak to people to engage with them and to become more relevant for them,” added Libralesso.Inventor turned founder turned chairmanWhen Polegato started Geox about 30 years ago in a small town near Venice, by his own admission he wasn’t interested in making shoes. “Because I was an inventor,” he told Inside Retail during an exclusive 40-minute interview. Born in 1952 in Crocetta del Montello, the Italian province of Treviso, considered the home of the world’s finest Prosecco, Polegato completed his studies as a winemaker before graduating in law. After that, he returned to the three-generation family wine business. For most of us, a life in the Italian countryside producing fine wines would probably have been more than satisfying, but Polegato had an itch for creativity. In the 1970s, every Italian shoe that rolled off a factory line had a leather sole. Polegato thought shoes could be improved by building them on a breathable rubber sole that was longer-lasting, more comfortable and – most of all – waterproof. He spent two years researching, secured a patent and then offered to sell the technology to shoe manufacturers, starting with sports where his concept had the greatest application. No one was interested. So in the 1990s, he launched Geox: Geo means Earth in Italian, and X is the symbol of “advanced technologies” in a laboratory. “We started in a garage with five people and step by step today our organisation has grown to work directly or indirectly with 30,000 employees. Geox is selling shoes in 120 countries. We have 750 Geox stores plus many multiple brand stores and we became the largest Italian shoe company with international distribution.”Perhaps even more satisfying to Polegato is how globally, 95 per cent of the population now wear shoes with rubber soles – just 5 per cent leather. Then Geox progressed to use foam between the sole and the inner. “We are the future,” beamed Polegato. “This is the real important fact to … understand Geox. We are unique.”Many shoe brands globally are reporting declining sales as the cost-of-living crisis and inflation dent discretionary spending power. While Geox’s sales soared 20 per cent in 2022, the company was not immune to last year’s “extremely challenging” environment, slipping 2.2 per cent reflecting the cull of about 25 per cent of the brand’s physical stores. (At constant exchange rates, they were up by 0.3 per cent).The first Geox shoes to market three decades ago were designed for children. “It was impossible for us in the beginning to produce shoes for every category so we started with children because we thought that … if you have a child you pay attention to them and spend more money on them.” Men’s shoes followed, with women the last category. Fast forward to today and women account for about 60 per cent of Geox’s sales, with the balance of men and children. Polegato said the company focuses on making shoes that mix technology and comfort. While other shoe firms might lead on design, he noticeably mentions Italian style as a third component.   Asia’s burgeoning growth potentialGeox sees its key Asian growth markets as Greater China – where it is now seeing “robust growth” – then Korea – its strongest now – and its fastest-growing: Indonesia and India. Korea has grown to account for more than 36 per cent of regional sales and prompted collaborations with locals to infuse an element of Korean-inspired design into its products. After an “Italian hand” designs the products, there is a Korean-infused design that starts from ready-to-wear and helps Geox add a level of premiumisation that it expects will resonate with customers all over Asia. Given the influence of K-culture in Asia, the company is experiencing a ‘halo effect’ in other markets.  In India, the company has different plans. “We’ve seen very sizeable growth over the past year in terms of freestanding store opening and results. India has the youngest global population and very savvy consumers, but a different ecosystem,” said Fabio Terrin, managing director of Asia Pacific, who oversees the business’s activities in China, Korea, Japan, India, Australia, and Southeast Asia. The second key step in Geox’s transformation into a lifestyle brand is the revamp of its store design to make it more experiential and personal. Free-standing stores are being progressively revamped, with early examples being at Kuala Lumpur’s Pavilion, The Emporium in New Delhi, and stores in Seoul and Jakarta. “The entire design of the stores is consumer-centric. Product surrounds the consumer, but it’s the consumer experience that counts and we are learning how to do this,” said Terrin. Key to this in Asia was recognising the younger demographic: consumers in their 30s and 40s, white collar, looking for a point of difference, “which is what we can give them because our unique proposition is we create stylish products with good technologies”. The new-generation stores feature a separate, more private area with what Libralesso described as an environment more cosy and with a home feeling where customers can try on shoes. Geox wants customers to feel great and embraced by the brand, rather than pushed to purchase, Terrin explained. “So the willingness to try the product on in the store not only drives a better experience for the brand but as well, higher sales per ticket. At the same time, we reduced the number of SKUs by being very focused on what we want to communicate. This gives us a very straightforward choice for our customers. Lastly, we brought a different level of service and training across the entire Asia Pacific. So we are retraining people, our number one asset in making this happen.”In concert with the revamped store design, the company is ensuring it embraces an omnichannel approach to its business. Omnichannel – the “perfect merger with digital” – is now of ultimate importance to Geox, said Libralesso, who added that opening digital stores on marketplace platforms has recovered turnover lost during the cull of physical stores. “We believe that the brick-and-mortar directly operated stores are really an asset, because – to give an example – 80 per cent of the brick-and-mortar sales are made digitally. People entering the stores buy online,” added Bodoni.Marketplaces like Amazon, Zalando and Russia’s Wildberries are important because success in digital channels depends on traffic. “So either you pay for performance marketing because the organic growth of the organic traffic is really less than 50 per cent of total sales or you exploit the traffic of someone else. So part of our business plan here is to grow the marketplaces because in the marketplace, you own the strategy and consequently you can set the price. The world is really changing. Omnichannel is the only strategy for brands.”An investment in digital performance marketing is driving traffic into stores, with Geox having seen a significant increase in customers starting their journey online and then converting to brick-and-mortar stores. “It is clear there is a merging between digital and brick and mortar, so we are really pleased that all the investment within the past four years is now really delivering results,” said Libralesso.“We think this is a perfect match between global players, our merchandising strategy, our product strategy and the perfect merger between digital and brick-and-mortar. You can enter the store, buy online and you can enter online, click to reserve, or click and collect, take returns to a store – so we are fully omnichannel.”Moving forward, he concluded, the company is thinking about the next phase of omnichannel growth “because continuous improvement is essential in a world that is changing really fast”. Further reading: “Everybody’s got a Levi’s story”: Chip Bergh reflects on his legacy