Virón

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1 founder and 6 employees

Ever since founding in 2020, Virón is led by Julian Romer, who founded the company with the vision of creating his own footwear label creating design and sustainability driven shoes, accessible at an affordable price-point. Ever since, he is surrounded by a young, driven and motivated team amplifying his drive and passion in working towards becoming the biggest sustainable boot brand. The team consists of experts in their sectors and supports the realisation of the strategic brand vision.

Julian Romer

Founder

Luca Endress

Operations & CSR

Jun Chen

Sales

Gabriel Adams Lacroix

Admin & Finance

Linnea Skoglösa

Art director

Alicia Valdes Selbach

Communication

The footwear industry and the production of shoes is linked to environmental and social challenges. Environmentally, one of main the most severe impacts traces back to the materials used. Whether it is animal farming related concerns for leather production, excessive water usage for bio-based fibres, or petroleum usage for the creation of synthetics. Each conventional material comes with its own challenges and finally results in environmental harm. Put into numbers, with 34 million pairs produced per day, each coming with emissions of 14 kg CO2e per pair, the annual carbon footprint of the sector is estimated at 174 million tons of CO2 (source: "Under the Shoe, the Footprint," Louise Robin, CERAS 2018). Beyond the environmental impact, the production of shoes oftentimes is also linked to social challenges. Many producers of footwear aim for low-cost production and high profit margins, often at the cost of the workers. They often face poor working conditions, with salaries below living wage and limited access to education and training. Nowadays, not all footwear companies are linked to excessive environmental harm or the exploitation of their workers. There are many companies already trying to go an alternative route however, the majority are not focused on contemporary designs. Most sustainable shoe brands focus on the “typical white sneaker” rather than the current market desires. Therefore, customers who want good looking contemporary design, but also sustainability often face a challenge in finding a shoe that delivers both.

Virón was founded to deliver customers exactly that by uniting sustainability with a Paris-based and design-driven approach. Good looking shoes without having to feel bad about them. In order to minimise the environmental impact, Virón does not use animal products. All leathers are bio-based leather alternatives, forging a new material path and ensuring that no living being was exploited for the boots. In addition, all utilised materials - from Upper, to Sole to the smallest details as the Eyelets - Virón uses exclusively recycled materials. Finally, all shoes are produced in Portugal, close to the main markets in Western Europe, to make sure that their shoes' transportation ways and emissions are cut to the minimum. Yet, Portugal has not only been chosen as a production location due to limited transportation emissions, but also as it enables Virón to visit the sites regularly and therefore, safeguard workers rights, fair treatment, whilst delivering fair payment and supply chain transparency. Finally, Virón makes sure that the shoes are not only sustainable, but also good looking through their design philosophy - oriented at the young counterculture and the specific desires of their close knit community.

Boots serve as the flagship product of Virón, constituting 70% of its revenue. Yet, the brand has progressively expanded its offering with sneakers, casual and classic shoes such as loafers and derbies to meet customer demand, and reduce the seasonality of the boot-based business model. Virón releases two collections per year, one for spring/summer and the other for autumn/winter. Last year, the company chose to reduce the number of models per collection, to ensure offering a coherent storytelling and set of products in terms of style and colours. Virón has adopted a multi-channel distribution strategy to diversify revenue drivers. One key revenue driver is wholesale (50% of revenue), which next to the generation of sales supports international recognition and brand awareness. Virón also relies on their social-media fuelled online-store driving about 45% of the revenue, with key markets being France, Germany and the United states. The primary objective for the next 5 years is hereby to grow the revenues derived from their own online channel to 50% by 2028-29. In 2024, Virón will further reinforce brand awareness and channel diversification through the introduction of pop-up stores in the key markets. Subsequently, in 2025, it is planned to launch the first physical store in Paris, France. The physical sales channel is anticipated to generate up to 15-20% of the revenue by 2029.

- Sustainability: Virón is committed to continuing its innovation on the product, with a focus on environmental respect. To achieve this, the company plans to closely monitor innovations in the bio-based material market to elevate the product and its durability, whilst also conducting a life cycle analysis of its shoes to measure and quantify the environmental impact.

- Circular Economy: Virón collaborates with its Portuguese partners, to recycle shoe soles and reintegrate them into new pairs. In this regard, the BPI (Banque Publique d'Investissement) has granted a subsidy of €50,000 for the implementation of a system to recycle used shoes in a circular approach. Future R&D will focus on testing the economic viability of integrating such a circular system into the business model.

- Aesthetics: With its strong Artistic Direction and brand image, along with strategic collaborations, Virón has enjoyed significant recognition in the fashion landscape since 2020. Most vegan brands focus on a simple and commercial design - giving Virón an edge in the market as one of the very few design- and value-driven shoes, offered at an affordable price point.