Brand of the century

The elephant as the symbol for robustness and thick skinness - meeting all expectations a brand for children’s shoes should fulfil: not only do they cope effortlessly with all exploratory walks of the little ones; like a thick skin they also protect delicate children’s feet against dirt, cold temperatures or obstacles without, however, restricting their mobility, which is vital to strengthening their muscles. True to the Elefanten Shoe philosophy "Protecting instead of propping" a child’s shoe should be as close as possible to walking barefooted in order to guarantee it optimal development. This is an important contribution to a person’s health, considering the fact that 98 percent of children are born with healthy feet that, however, two thirds of adult’s feet show clinical changes. This responsibility has now been assumed by Elefanten for over 100 years:

In 1896, 24-year old Gustav Hoffmann and his brother-in-law founded the children’s shoe factory "Pannier & Hoffmann" in Rhenish Kleve. Four years later, the partners introduced a ground-breaking novelty: for the first time ever, left and right shoes were produced as standard. Until then it had remained to the foot to bend the shoe into the right shape. Following the professional separation of the brothers-in-law, Gustav Hoffmann opened his own factory under his own name in 1908, thereby laying the foundation stone for the current company, which bears the name ‘Elefanten’ only since 1979.

Hoffmann showed great dedication to little feet and continuously worked on optimizing shoes and wearing comfort. After the death of the meritorious company founder in 1935, his company was taken over by the Freudenberg Group. Today the brand ‘Elefanten’ belongs to the Deichmann Group and is once again managed as its founder fathers intended it. In the meantime, the brand has become Europe’s leading manufacturer of children’s shoes: today, the first walker "Elefanten el chico", which was produced for the first time in 1964, belongs to the most frequently sold toddler shoes in the world. Ten years later, with significant participation by Elefanten, the WMS - Width Measuring System was introduced. This system enables the production of children’s shoes in three widths.

Nowadays, Elefanten exports its shoes into many countries around the globe. The result of almost 100 years of research today represents an outstanding competition for all functional shoes for children. Apart from that, Elefanten provides the right shoe for all development stages - from first walker via kindergarten up to school age. Every single shoe is fully flexible with a perfect fit in accordance with WMS (wide, medium, slim) and a footbed that supports the natural motions of the foot.

These - although vital - elements are, however, "only" the minimum requirements that Elefanten demands from children’s shoes. Additional special systems provide the child’s foot with the basis for healthy growth. That these shoes are not only a favourite of health conscious parents, but have also proved popular with the kids over the years, is owed to the forward-looking attitude at Elefanten, where one is well aware that children are starting to be acutely interested in and aware of fashionable up-to-dateness from an early age. For this reason, the designers of the traditional brand are intensively developing young designs, to be able to fulfil the wishes of their small customers.

From the very first step, Elefanten Shoes support children’s physical and mental development. Discovering their own world - expanding their radius step by step and turning their everyday life into an active, colourful and positive adventure. Fitted with shoes by Elefanten, a little person will be able to go on his or her own two - still growing - feet towards an all-round healthy development.