Why Kilian Jornet, The GOAT Of Mountain Running, Started A Shoe Company

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Why Kilian Jornet, The GOAT Of Mountain Running, Started A Shoe Company

When asked about the inherent contradiction between unsustainable growth and starting a manufacturing company, Kilian Jornet chooses his words carefully.

“I don’t like the word growth, because we associate it with money,” he explains. “Growth is not equal and not balanced with the ecosystem, so we need a better word for it,” suggesting that our model of consumption needs to change. While numerous brands are actively striving to transform our consumption patterns for the better, Jornet hopes his new shoe brand, NNormal, will be a catalyst to do so.

As our conversation dances between the practical and philosophical, it becomes clear that Jornet prefers to focus on micro changes that may have macro impacts. “Real growth would be a transition to a reasonable use of resources for the ecosystem. We would slow down, buy less and fix what we already have.” These ethos, learned as a kid, were the genesis of NNormal.

A Pyrenees Childhood

Jornet grew up in Refugi de Cap de Rec, a mountain hut nestled in the Pyrenees of northeastern Spain. Living at 6,400 feet, he started hiking with his family as a toddler. His dad, a mountain guide, led Jornet up the highest mountain in the range before the age of five, which put him on the path toward trail running.

At 20, Jornet was the youngest ever to win Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc (UTMB), a 106-mile race that is widely considered the World Series of ultra running. Over his two-decade career, Jornet has won highly competitive mountain races around the globe, including Sierre-Zinal nine times, Zegama ten times, Hardrock five times and UTMB four times. He still holds the course record at three events (his UTMB record was broken in 2023).

Now 36, Jornet lives in Norway with his two children and partner, Emelie Forsberg, also a professional runner. At the end of 2021, he dropped Salomon, his longtime sponsor of 15 years, to launch NNormal. This came as a surprise to many, but according to Jornet, it was a long time coming.

“I’ve had these ideas since I was a kid. I love geeking out on products, I like working with designers at Salomon on shoes for projects. The dream was there, but felt too complicated to make real, until now.”

The “New Normal” Idea

Through a mutual friend, Jornet was introduced to Camper, a family-owned Spanish company that has been making shoes for 50 years. In Autumn of 2021, he visited their headquarters in Mallorca to discuss a potential partnership. From the first conversation with the Fluxa family, their shared interest was clear.

“It felt natural from the first day. We had the same environmental vision, the same non-negotiables and the same why. We both believed a new type of shoe company could have an impact on the future of the industry,” says Jornet. “Because of our alignment, things started to happen quickly.”

Together, they saw an opportunity to lean into the durability, longevity and repairability of shoes—a “new normal” of footwear. And to prove the point, Jornet raced two of the most competitive ultra races in the world, the Hardrock 100 and UTMB, in the same pair of shoes—winning and setting course records at both events.

A Product-Centric Company

NNormal began delivering shoes in October 2022, a rapid turnaround for a manufacturing company. “Camper was well established and trusted,” says Jornet, “which helped us to quickly build a network of relationships with providers and partners.” Less than a year after its conception, NNormal was on the market.

Jornet actively contributes to the board’s strategic decisions and provides daily product feedback, all while maintaining a focus on his role as an athlete. The company currently employs 15 full-time staff and receives support from Camper for their supply chain, customer service and legal teams.

“It’s a product-centric company, but different,” says Jornet. To distinguish itself from competitors, NNormal avoids seasonal launches, exclusive drops and superfluous color variations. “Our shoes are simple, last longer and are able to be repaired,” he explains, “and we hope to influence other brands to do the same.”

Mission Before Profit

While living in a van for years, Jornet discovered that happiness doesn’t require a lot. “I use the same jacket to climb, run and ski. The same pair of shoes for almost everything. This has been my philosophy for a long time,” he reflects. “But for a lot of people, it’s easier to buy new than fix what they have.”

NNormal aims to shift this paradigm by creating products with simplified repair processes and establishing a network of partners equipped with the necessary technical expertise for the task. “Finding a cobbler should be as easy as buying a new pair of shoes,” says Jornet. “Without that, we’re not going to change the single-use culture.”

Jornet knows he’s fighting an uphill battle, trying to make a financially sustainable company based on something other than quick consumption. NNormal makes products that last and are affordable enough to reach more customers, and while such a unique strategy doesn’t currently exist at scale, Jornet and his team are up for the challenge. “Growth may take longer, but it’s what we believe,” he says with conviction. “Mission before profit.”

The Village Cobbler

NNormal has a few sustainability programs, all in nascent stages. “Our initiatives get ranked on the potential to scale, and we focus on the ones with a larger impact,” says Jornet. For example, because it’s currently difficult to recycle shoes, NNormal focuses its efforts on repairability, at least for the time being. “Most villages still have a cobbler,” Jornet notes, “and we want that industry to grow with us.”

To train a network of cobblers to repair and resole their technical shoes, NNormal has partnered with Vibram, one of the largest outsole brands in the world. “This was a non-negotiable from the start,” says Jornet. “We knew it would be hard to make high-performance shoes with a simple design, but simplicity is what makes it easier to fix.”

The company also places a premium on durability, making some of the longest-lasting trail running shoes available. While brands like Adidas are building marathon shoes that last just one race, NNormal has taken its strategy in a different direction. “We have high longevity standards and our materials have to follow that,” says Jornet.

A Slower Business Model

Our conversation eventually circles back to where it began—the conflict between a new company and slower the consumption cycle. “Yes, we make products,” says Jornet, “but they last longer, can be repaired easily and we don’t launch them every season, or even every year.”

The better question, Jornet says, is how we can collectively slow down. “How can we teach others to do things locally, to take care of the stuff we have? That’s the influence on the system we want to have.”

“As individuals, we don’t need to stop trail running, stop traveling or stop going into the mountains, but we need to do it in a reasonable way,” he explains. “We will always use natural resources, but slowing down will create a balance with the ecosystem. A sustainable business model is a slower one.”

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