00:00Let's talk about the design of these shoes. They're very striking.
00:03And obviously, we're going to get to the technology and the use of 3D printing.
00:07But what comes first for you? Is it the design or is it the technology?
00:13So when I actually started Zellerfeld, I was an engineering student.
00:17I was in the middle of Germany. I'm a German engineer and I always loved shoes.
00:23And I've been collecting shoes for like since I'm a teenager.
00:27But there was a point when I realized, okay, everything that I can collect, it's always the same.
00:34You know, shoes from 30 years ago, shoes from 50 years ago that are just being remade as retros.
00:41And at some point, that gets quite boring.
00:45And since I studied engineering, I realized, okay, maybe I can do something about it,
00:51which is building a machine where just with a push of a button, you can have whatever shoe you want.
00:57And that machine happens to be a 3D printer, which absolutely fascinates me still to this day.
01:03This is now maybe eight years ago when I started.
01:06And since then, I have been lucky enough to work overtime with the biggest tastemakers in the world.
01:14And now I finally have what I always wanted, which is just the coolest shoes ever.
01:17So we should point out, I mean, what we're seeing behind you, if they put the shot back up,
01:22is that's essentially the machines themselves, your farm, if you will, of the shoes.
01:26Is that right?
01:27That is absolutely correct.
01:29You are seeing 200 printers behind me.
01:31They're all self-built.
01:33They're all self-engineered.
01:34There's no printer in the world that can print shoes.
01:36And we are so obsessed with the thought of getting printed shoes on every foot
01:40that we actually engineer our machines ourselves.
01:44And so I'm always curious when it comes, you know, to this method of making shoes,
01:48whether or not, you know, you're trying to get the athletes or is this more about, you know, fashion?
01:53When you think about getting these shoes on people's feet, is it about looking good or performing well?
01:58Well, yeah, it's about both.
02:06It is about both where at the end of the day, a lot has happened since lots of taste makers are moving towards us.
02:16So whatever they bring, we make happen.
02:20It's really like a YouTube or a Spotify where you can just upload any design, whatever you want.
02:25And some people want to go more into the function side.
02:28Some people want to go more on the design side.
02:30We have now like celebrities like Justin Bieber, but also brands like Nike.
02:35And it's really anyone.
02:37And yeah, someone to focus on some aspects, some on others.
02:41And really whatever you want to do, you can do.
02:44And so you're sort of catering to both there when it comes to form and fashion.
02:49When you talk about some of the partnerships you have, you know, you mentioned Justin Bieber, you mentioned Nike.
02:54I mean, are those, how do those form?
02:57Are you approaching these people, these brands?
03:00Are they coming to you or is it a mix of both?
03:03So the cool thing is it happened all very naturally.
03:08We don't have a marketing department at Zellerfeld.
03:10We are basically really just a platform.
03:13And what happened is that at some point, very cool people just started uploading stuff and shoe designs where they get very weird in some ways.
03:23Like, for example, like I love, we have some kids creators now all of a sudden.
03:27Like, for example, you see like really a full Lamborghini shoe here or like, I don't know, that's probably a chipmunk.
03:36And all of a sudden you have just super cool designs where also all of a sudden people are starting to make like real known silhouettes that you might have seen before.
03:48And so what happened is very naturally there has been lots of momentum.
03:53So that it's a new niche and especially young people, especially the new generation like me, all of a sudden we cater to them and satisfy needs that otherwise they wouldn't get satisfied.
04:04So so there is a new market, a new movement.
04:07And of course, big brands and of course, celebrities want to tap into it because it's a market that has never been out there before, which is you can do whatever you want in a shoe.
04:16And we think that's quite exciting.
04:18How far or how far do you think you can grow this business as independent?
04:23Because I asked that question, Cornelius, you're working with a lot of different brands.
04:27Do you see a future where maybe one of those brands says you only work with us and no one else?
04:32From day one, we have always been independent.
04:37We remain independent.
04:39What we want to be is really like a footlocker of the future.
04:43You know, I think the footwear market is kind of broken.
04:46Like I hate that I as a consumer have to go into a store.
04:50I see 100 designs, 100 silhouettes.
04:52They all look the same.
04:53They're all boring.
04:55And all of a sudden, like whatever shoe you choose, like they all don't fit.
04:59Like every shoe, no matter, even within one brand, they all fit horrible and they don't fit me.
05:04And in terms of like really fit and and not just not just style.
05:11And what I love about 3D printing is what we can do is we have invented something what we call fit profiles.
05:17When you go on zellerfeld.com, you can really just scan your feet with two pictures.
05:23And we take a custom foot scan of your foot so that we can make basically every shoe that you want that you see on our website custom fitted to your foot.
05:31And what I believe that will do is I think all of a sudden consumers will win where whatever you whatever design of those millions of designs that those creators are making, every shoe fits the same.
05:43I think that is something that that that will push us as humanity more towards a future where products get digitized.
05:51And in this case, just footwear, you know, like this is like a Star Trek replicator.
05:54And all of a sudden, we can have whatever shoe you want for like your foot custom.
06:00I think that is pretty incredible.
06:01And I don't believe that there will be shoe stores in the future as this grows.
06:06And to answer your question, sorry that I took such a long turn there.
06:10I think we can grow this to every single foot on Earth.
06:14Like we very proudly have as a mission statement.
06:17We want printed shoes on every foot.
06:19We will make our printed shoes so good that everyone will have them.
06:23All right, Cornelius.
06:24And for that, we obviously need to work with every brand.
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