Style Edit: Why Geox picked Penélope Cruz as its first ambassador – the Italian footwear company famous for breathable rubber soles is shaking up its image, fast

When late last year Geox announced Oscar-winning actress Penélope Cruz as its first ever global ambassador, it came as a bit of a surprise to those familiar with the Italian footwear label. Founded in 1995 in Northern Italy, Geox has always been at the vanguard of technological innovation and comfort, but had never before emphasised its fashion credentials. Geox’s choice to work with the Spanish actress – who is also a global ambassador for Chanel, the ultimate luxury couture house – is a sign that the company is seriously aiming to shake up its image, as Mario Moretti Polegato, founder and chairman of Geox, and CEO Livio Libralesso explained in a recent interview in Hong Kong.

Polegato, who comes from a family of winemakers, had no prior experience in shoemaking when in the early 90s, during a trip to the Nevada desert for a wine fair, came up with the idea of the breathable rubber sole technology that has turned Geox into a global powerhouse. The proprietary technology, which allows wearers to keep their feet fresh and dry even on long walks, is at the heart of all Geox shoes. Even the name of the company, which Polegato himself coined, combines the ancient Greek word for earth, “geo”, with the letter “x”, standing for technology.

With some 768 stores worldwide, Geox is one of the most celebrated success stories to come out of Italy in the last three decades. The company has become a household name in its home country and an undisputed leader in the casual footwear category.

In spite of its popularity as a maker of relatively affordable and comfortable shoes, ranging from boots to sneakers and moccasins, the label has only recently started to build a more design-driven image. The Cruz campaign, shot by fashion photographer Gray Sorrenti, has already helped inject a dose of glamour into the label while expanding its reach to more female customers.

“If we want to grow our business we need to focus on women,” says Libralesso. “Women take technology for granted and buy shoes for their style, feel, emotion, design … Why Penélope? We want to target women and deliver them products they love and create an emotional connection. We feel that Penélope really fits with our brand because she’s a woman with many characteristics: a mother, a sexy woman, versatile and global.”

While Geox is a household name in its home country of Italy and other European nations such as Spain, France, Germany and the UK, and has a strong presence in the Middle East, it is now focusing more of its resources on the Asia-Pacific market.

“Asia is our challenge. We’re strong in Italy and core markets in Europe and are growing in the Middle East. Asia-Pacific is the fastest developing area but it’s challenging,” says Libralesso. “Style here is very important and customers are much younger and pay attention to trends so for us the challenge is to raise the bar for the company because in order to be successful in Asia we have to do more than what we do in Italy or Europe but this is the fastest growing part of the world so we need to be here.”

For the coming Year of the Dragon, the label released its first ever Lunar New Year collection, which features a sneaker in three different colourways designed in collaboration Hong Kong’s The Flying Hawk Studio. Polegato adds that the brand plans to name Asian ambassadors in the future to be more relevant to customers in the region.