The collection is nicely draped in a high, light-flooded studio in Zurich-West. The strawberries that the head of communications laid out as a snack are most similar to the bright red Swiss flag. The pieces of clothing in which the Swiss athletes will arrive in Tokyo are reserved in muted red tones. Different, consciously different. Olivier Bernhard: “We wanted to interpret Switzerland as we perceive it. Complex and diverse. That’s why we use a whole range of shades of red. Is it the case? ” As if he still had to take care of individual opinions, Olivier Bernhard asks with genuine interest.
Thousands of people wear his shoes, which have conquered Switzerland and the world from here over the past decade. The rise of the Swiss label is impressive. There are only a few concrete figures on success; no sales figures, for example, are communicated. External financing has pushed growth in recent years. It is clear that the cheeky start-up in Zurich’s Seefeld has become a large company with 900 employees worldwide. The new company headquarters are currently being built in Zurich-West.
“I have the golden test foot”
Olivier Bernhard is responsible for innovation, product development and athlete commitment. Each part is tested by himself, in Alpstein, in Appenzellerland, his home. He says with a laugh: “I have the golden test foot, saws.” He feels the smallest differences, his opinion is a success factor for the company. Another is clever marketing. On is cool and has made the sneaker socially acceptable or the suit wearer sporty, whatever you choose. So soon On will be the symbol of Sport Switzerland. The Olympic collection will be handed over to Swiss athletes these days.
Olympia as the largest catwalk to date
Bernhard won’t travel to Tokyo, he’ll watch the opening ceremony on TV: “I’ll probably shed a few tears, I’m very emotional. I’m also curious to see how the colors and the design work in the crowd. So far we have only seen it in individual athletes. ” Olympia as the largest catwalk for the Swiss clothing brand to date.
He didn’t understand the importance of the Olympic Games until his own career was long over: “I was in London for On in 2012 and followed the triathlon in Hyde Park. When the race was over, all the fans sat and watched fencing on a screen. Only then did I understand that the Olympics are much more than just a competition. That we can now be part of this movement makes me extremely proud. “
Employees should think and act like athletes
A three-person founding team is at the beginning of On. In the meantime, many new people have joined On. The team mixes up the supposedly saturated running shoe market and gives the traditional brands fear. All three founders are still on board, thanks to a good culture of conflict and a lot of respect, says Bernhard: “Respect comes first. Otherwise you won’t get anywhere. Even when we bring new people into the team, these core values are important to us. Musch emol lie! ” Bernhard shows a picture of the last onboarding call on his laptop. «These are people from 11 different time zones who are new to us. We want everyone in our company to treat them respectfully and at the same time to think and act like athletes. So we can always improve. Innovation never stands still. “
Then the sportsman speaks. Bernhard also has anecdotes at hand that suggest that On’s meteoric rise is probably no coincidence: “When we first showed a producer what our technical soles should look like, we were told that it was impossible, that I’ve never done anyone like this before. We replied that it was precisely the right thing to do. ” Want more, be better, go the extra mile. That’s what they want with On. Always.
The future from the 3D printer?
Swissness or not, On produces mainly in Vietnam and China, some products are made in Europe. Why is there no more Switzerland in the products? «Around half of our employees work in Switzerland. Innovation, design, development and all of the testing also still take place here in Switzerland. At the moment we would not be able to produce highly technical sports shoes from here. We would very much like to bring some of the production back to Switzerland in the future. New technologies may also make this possible at some point. ” Bernhard points to a 3D printer in the next room. In the “On-Lab”, as the studio is known as New German, the future is being worked on. This is where the models for 2024/25 are created.
Incidentally, they once got bogged down in shoe development, says Bernhard. And that was precisely when designing the first on-competition tennis shoe for investor Roger Federer: “We did the first tests in the middle of his rehab. So we first developed a shoe for the semi-fit tennis player. An unnecessary detour! We learned from that. ”
“I said cheekily that Federer should just get in touch”
Speaking of which: What is it like when Federer calls and asks if you don’t want to do something together? “I couldn’t believe my ears. I’ve known Federer’s manager for a long time; he was always a fan of our shoes. When I heard rumors that Federer was not one hundred percent satisfied with his shoes, I cheekily told the manager that Federer should just get in touch if we could do something for him. A few weeks later we were having dinner together. “
On has momentum: Investor Federer, a rumored IPO (which, by the way, is not commented on) and now a lot of honor thanks to the Olympic collection. All of this boosts the PR mill. “Well, none of that is so important to me,” says Bernhard and bites into a strawberry red with a Swiss flag. “I’m just still happy about everyone who likes to walk in our shoes. Sometimes I even run after one or the other to ask if they are satisfied with their shoes. ” You believe him and suspect that, despite all the modesty, the next on-coup is already waiting around the corner.
Swiss Olympic will work with On (outfitter) and Ochsner Sport (premium partner) until 2028. On replaces Nike as the manufacturer of the Olympic collection. The Swiss delegation to the Olympic Summer Games in Tokyo consists of around 110 athletes, who for the first time will be equipped from head to toe by Swiss companies. The collection consists of 15 articles. The company On was founded in 2010 and initially manufactured shoes, followed by the first clothing collection in 2016. On meanwhile has offices in the USA, Germany, Japan, China, Vietnam, Australia and Brazil. The sole of the running shoes is patented worldwide. Ten years after entering the market, On is available from approximately 7800 dealers worldwide. Roger Federer has been co-owner of On since the end of 2019.
The 53-year-old is part of the three-person founding team at On and a member of the management team. Before that, he was a professional athlete for fifteen years and then a coach. He is ranked 8th in the best list of Swiss triathletes on the Ironman distance and is a three-time duathlon world champion.