The success story of NaturalLook and Birkenstock is an entrepreneurial success story that for more than half a century has closely intertwined the history of two dynasties and solid family businesses, the German Birkenstock family (a family of shoemakers of which there is documented mention as far back as 1774), and the Bolzano-based Pitschl family. During 2024, in fact, both companies will celebrate two important anniversaries: 250 years Birkenstock and 50 years NaturalLook.

At the age of 14, Ewald Pitschl, the third of eight children of a housewife and a commercial agent, first trained as a salesman in the historic Buratti shop in the centre of Bolzano, where he learned all the secrets of shoes and their manufacture. In 1970, he joined the equally renowned shoe shop of Mr and Mrs Fill, who had already started selling the innovative “Fussbett” footbed and the very first Birkenstock sandals.

It may seem strange today, but the great success of Birkenstock in Italy had rather pioneering beginnings, made possible by the courageous and stubborn far-sightedness of Ewald Pitschl himself as well as of agents, orthopaedists and shopkeepers who did not let themselves be discouraged by very harsh judgements according to which ‘those ugly German sandals’ would never have ‘caught on’ in such a style-conscious nation as Italy.

Infected by Karl Birkenstock’s enthusiasm, in 1974 Pitschl founded Pediform – which over the years would first become Passform and then NaturalLook – and secured the Birkenstock representation for Italy, setting out, together with his younger brother Gerhard, to conquer the Italian market. Practically without a network of agents, the two brothers initially took part in trade fairs where the small Birkenstock stand was always the talk of the town and where, punctually, the irony of the comments about their sandals turned into amazement and enthusiasm as soon as they were put on.

Success arrived in the early nineties, when the fashion world discovered the comfortable and ergonomic shoes and Birkenstocks went on the catwalk alongside the clothes of the world’s best designers. A growth that prompted NaturalLook to take a more managerial approach, while maintaining the family spirit that has characterised the company for three decades. Today, Frowin Pitschl, Ewald’s son, is at the helm of the company.

When interviewed about the choice of NaturalLook as their representative in Italy, Alex Birkenstock acknowledged that it was no coincidence that an atypical company like theirs – family-run and capable of creating an authentic and informal relationship with its collaborators – chose a company with very similar characteristics as its Italian partner, describing the Pitschl’s as “real people”, authentic and informal, “kind people who believe in the product and have an interest and joy in spreading the word about the product.