The Business of Fashion
Agenda-setting intelligence, analysis and advice for the global fashion community.
In sportswear, innovation is the name of the game.
On got its big break as a sneaker start-up thanks to the lightbulb moment co-founder Olivier Bernhard had when he cut up pieces of a rubber garden hose pipe to form the springy sole of the brand’s prototype running shoe. It formed the basis of the Swiss brand’s propriety CloudTec technology that gives the midsole of its shoes a unique look and feel and — in the brand’s words — makes you feel like you’re running on clouds.
Now, the brand is set to unveil a new innovation, which it says will be its most transformative technological breakthrough since the invention of CloudTec 15 years ago.
LightSpray is a new “spray-on” manufacturing technique which allows for the creation of ultralight one-piece uppers — the fabric section of the shoe which covers the top half of the foot — created by a robotic arm which is capable of producing one shoe in three minutes. The seamless, lace-free design has already become a hit among On’s athletes such as Kenyan long distance runner Hellen Obiri who won the Boston Marathon in April wearing the Cloudboom Strike LS, the brand’s first running shoe to carry the new technology, which will hit the market this autumn, retailing at $330. The Cloudboom Strike LS weighs just 170 grams, considerably less than the lightest running shoes on the market currently, which typically start from 180 grams.
ADVERTISEMENT
Innovations like this are crucial for sneaker brands, who need to keep finding new ways to keep people excited about (and buying) their products. This is especially true for newer brands known for one core product or technology. On’s foundational appeal is the unique look and feel of its CloudTec midsole, but that has existed for over a decade now, which is a long time in the highly competitive running footwear market.
Much like CloudTec, LightSpray was inspired by a weird and wonderful spark. This time, it was a glue gun designed to create Halloween costumes that got the team at On Labs thinking about how they could create running shoe uppers with the single spray of a robotic arm, said Ilmarin Heitz, On’s senior director of innovation.
Not only does the technology give a boost to the athletes using On’s footwear, but the greatest value of LightSpray is the production capabilities it gives the brand, Heitz said. The relative speed and ease of production mean more products can be manufactured closer to home, while the process generates 75 percent less carbon emissions compared to conventional upper manufacturing, the brand says. One shoe takes just three minutes to produce from start to finish, On says, up from a weeks-long process for the creation of regular footwear. Heitz said the team at On Labs had already produced thousands of units from the brand’s Zurich headquarters using the one robotic arm.
The development of the LightSpray technology is well timed for On. There is no better stage for a sportswear brand to exhibit a new product or technology’s performance capabilities than the Olympic games, and several of the brand’s athletes have already committed to competing in the Cloudboom Strike LS in Paris this summer. On will take its technology on the road during the games with live manufacturing demonstrations in Paris. The brand is also working on the development of running spike footwear using the new technology, Heitz told BoF.
On plans to roll the technology out across other performance footwear models and is thinking about how it can be applied to lifestyle silhouettes in the long term.
“The only reason why innovation is justified is when you can scale it,” Heitz said.
On’s strides in athletic footwear come as the brand simultaneously invests further in its lifestyle categories and cultural partnerships. In recent months it has launched its tennis apparel category, expanded its long-running Loewe collaboration, released collections with Beams and Post Archive Faction, and announced high-profile partnerships with FKA Twigs and Zendaya.
The Zurich-based running sneaker brand remains in high-growth mode. It reported record quarterly net sales of CHF 508.2 million ($560.9 million) for the period ended March 31, up 21 percent year-over-year. The bulk of the growth was driven by the expansion of its direct-to-consumer business, which generated revenue of CHF 190.5 million, up 39 percent compared to the same period in 2023. Meanwhile, net income increased by 106 percent to CHF 91.4 million ($100.1 million), up from CHF 44.4 million.
