Check out our interview with entrepreneur and Crimagno Earth founder Cristiano Magnoni.
At its core, KOBI is truly sustainable by being stylish and gender-neutral with features and benefits such as: Award-winning, industrial focused design, natural and recycled materials, built for longevity and durability and very important environmentally-friendly.
In addition to developing a shoe that fuses comfort, sustainability and style Cristiano has developed a carbon offset program. People can donate an old pair of KOBIs to be recycled and receive a discount on a future pair! They are also planting a tree for every pair of KOBIs sold.
Follow Cristiano @crimagno_earth
Hi Cristiano, please tell us a little about yourself.
I’ve always been fascinated with formations and the way in which things are shaped. I feel that it’s almost as if forms would speak to me. When I was a child, around eight years old, I remember my father had a very special watch. I was enchanted with it every time he wore it. Fortuitously, many years later while at University studying industrial design, I was flicking through a magazine and found the image of that watch! I tracked down the name of the watch creator, who by fate happened to live not far from me. I reached out, started working with him and fell in love with architecture. That ties into my journey which ultimately brought me to my desire to make shoes.
My story with shoes dates back to middle school. During physical training, I remember my first encounter with the ADIDAS LA trainer, with its interchangeable coloured rubber inserts. It had excellence in form and technique. That planted a seed, when I was in middle school.
Shoes also formed part of our family’s business heritage, which I worked in for years. My family’s shoe business was one of the most established manufacturers at the time and supplied soles to the most prestigious fashion houses. After graduating with a degree in product and interior design, I went to work as a consultant for these prestigious partner brands, joining their interior design division. I was pursuing a career in architecture and interior design, until shoes crossed my path again.
That career path changed while on vacation in the United States. I found myself in a parking lot, in front of a magnificent shop window, displaying a sign in all French. As I went closer, I was drawn to a pair of strappy heels that combined an elegant and sophisticated design with an interweaving tailor’s measurement tape meant to run along the ankle. The shoes were elegant, original and incredibly beautiful. I remember this vividly because it was the first time in a long time that I felt the desire to make shoes, however crazy the idea seemed. And so my story in creating shoes and KOBI began…
Describe yourself in 3 words:
Passionate, Curious, Loyal
Who has made the biggest impact on your life so far, and why?
I’ve always loved reading. From a young age I was lucky enough to come across books about spirituality and higher self-development. These readings have greatly influenced my growth.
What is your business background?
I’ve worked as a consultant in the industrial and interior design field for the last 15 years. Most of that work was for fashion brands but I also worked privately for clients as head of design or product and project manager. I also have a business background in developing and styling furniture collections, commercial spaces, exhibition stands, residential projects and showrooms.
How and when did you decide to create KOBI?
Before establishing my company, I had the opportunity to meet with executives of a famous sports shoe store chain. I attended that meeting with a few sneaker models to show them. I think it’s always important to attend job-related appointments with drawings or presentations. The executives were amazed and maybe even a little surprised. I felt surprised by the results too. But that put me on a path to create KOBI.
How was the creative process and the mission behind it?
Our purpose is to create a high-end hybrid of a design gender neutral shoe. We have developed our expertise in the field of industrial design allowing us to conceive footwear more as a bionic extension rather than as a fashion accessory. Our materials are researched and sourced from completely different sectors such as automotive, interior design and architecture.
Can you tell us what is different from KOBI to other products in the market? And what do you think is the secret to have a successful business/product in a competitive market like yours?
Our mission is to differentiate ourselves from sustainable brands that are already in existence. We achieve this with KOBI based on ergonomic studies, award-winning gender neutral design and using innovative, sustainable materials. All of those characteristics together separate KOBI from other products and brands on the market.
When one of the aforementioned features is missing, it leads to shoes ending up in landfills. Research shows that two billion pairs of shoes end up in landfills every year. With KOBI, we consider the entirety of the shoe’s life cycle. That includes developing an upcycling plan to help offset the number of shoes ending up in a landfill.
What did you learn from your biggest failure?
Failure gives you the opportunity to better analyze what happened. Oftentimes, the analysis from what happened with a failure highlights hidden strengths in order to try again. Without failure you would not have had the opportunity to find strength.
What mindsets helped making you so successful?
Don’t stop until you’re proud
Who influenced you about the sustainability of your products?
I have always lived close to nature, it’s a part of who I am. I find peace and balance in nature. Making a positive difference for the planet is one of the main values on which we have founded our company. We believe that each and every person must make an effort to this cause.
We learned that people can donate an old pair of KOBIs to be recycled and receive a discount on a future pair. That’s a great idea. Please tell us about it.
We consider the entire life cycle of shoes, including recycling pairs that have been worn or used. We have developed a commercial incentive, with which we encourage customers to return their old CRIMAGNO shoes, with credit toward their next purchase.
We will take care of the proper disassembly and upcycling of individual parts of the shoe. For example, soles will be used to build athletics racetracks and the upper shoe will be used for insulating and sound-absorbing panels for construction. We see this as a win-win for the customer and the planet.
Is the product ready for people to buy or is still on the Kickstarter process?
We are live on Kickstarter now. Please visit this link to get a new pair of KOBI:
What advice would you give to your younger self and why?
Forget who you think you are and always give yourself the chance to meet a different part of you.
What would you say are the greatest lessons you learned so far?
Never stay the same. Be happy no matter what happens because change is a big part of life.
Which project is still on your bucket list?
We would like to apply the know-how we’ve acquired to date, on materials developed with footwear, and apply it to other categories such as socks and belts. From there, we hope to apply it to other categories of clothes.
What’s next for Cristiano Magnoni and KOBI in 2023?
We are currently hard at work in two startup accelerators. We’ve been selected as finalists for both and hope to successfully complete them soon. We are also starting a collaborative project with Innosuisse (The Swiss Innovation Agency) and the University of Switzerland that will lead us to the development of new sustainable polymers to be used in the future production of our shoes. We also want to launch a new model of our shoes.
What is your own definition of happiness?
Buddha said it long before me but I totally agree with this definition of happiness:
There is no way to happiness…happiness is the way!
Name one your strengths?
Resilience
Idea of a perfect Sunday?
Sailing and reading
Where can we follow you?
Please follow along with our journey by visiting www.crimagno.com.
You can find us on Instagram @crimagno_earth
Quote: “Shoes in ancient and modern times have always been a metaphor of life: every sole, every heel tells a story, of the places where people have traveled, of the walks they took with their loved ones… every step is a memory, a journey through the walk of life…”
Travel Destination: Anywhere in nature, with a clear horizon
Food: I’m Italian! Every 100km we have foods and wines that you cannot miss 🙂
