Flowers for Society is revolutionizing the sneaker world

Footwear brand Flowers for Society is the radical newcomer in the sneaker world hailing from Hamburg, Germany. Founded in 2021 by Till Jagla, an industry expert who spent decades at Adidas and New Balance, this start-up sneaker brand is challenging how fashion brands should and could run their business. The brand states transparency, honesty and accountability as their core values and with innovative and experimental digital design practices the brand’s mission is no less than to revolutionize the footwear industry. Our HAMKZINE team had the opportunity to chat with Till Jagla and our alumna Anna Kotelskaia, who works as a 3D designer in the company, at their headquarters. Till and Anna shared their stories and visions for the future of smart and sustainable design.  

From a Blank Canvas to a Blind Release

The founder of Flowers for Society Till Jagla spent over two decades developing footwear collections in companies like New Balance and Adidas. After living the corporate dream, he decided it was time to start something on his own. Till offers insights into the start of the company, its success and challenges and the future of the footwear industry. 

Flowers for Society started on a blank canvas. As Till Jagla says: “We didn’t have a logo, a name, an archive, money nor an innovation. We didn’t have anything.” What Till had was a powerful insight into the number one driving motivation behind every shoe-buying customer in the world: COMFORT. Combined with Till’s experiences on 3D digital product development at Adidas and a vision of its even greater potential to redefine design, manufacturing and marketing, he knew they needed to be as clear as possible from the start.” As we didn’t have any legacy or an existing innovation to build on like Adidas and Nike, we said we would create our own. With limited options, the goal was clear: make a shoe that screams comfort just from a visual standpoint. How can we make a shoe that in five years’ time people on the streets from 200 meters apart recognize exactly that this is a Flowers for Society?” 

Even with Jaglas vast experience, running a start-up company has not been without surprises. “I think every day is a big surprise! I know it was going to be stormy, but it’s been more challenging make it a reality than I expected. We are responsible for everything ourselves, every paycheck and bill and it’s all financed by the sales. But the reward is much higher. We have managed to create something new that the people react positively. They just loved out first digital sneaker.” 

Having limited resources to start with has pushed the company to innovate on their strategy and practices. Their first product release was a digital sneaker, that gained sales of 2500 units a week. It took all what the company had and a crowdfunding campaign to finance the production. The following full year was just as wild according to Till. The new product releases were successful, and the company launched their first design collaborations. Their social media awareness and engagement skyrocketed, and all this resulted in a significant increase in their active customer base. “We literally talked to the consumer and the consumer talked to us.” Till recalls.  

Now the company is entering to a new phase where they need to keep growing profitably and keep the dialogue going with growing customer base. Flowers for Society recently launched blind release first in the history. “First, we released a show box without showing the product, and in phases we unveiled more. At that point, we didn’t know how the shoe is going to look like, we just called it Daisy. So people didn’t know what’s in the box. And it was the second most successful release ever. We gained 37 percent new customers through that project. Which is weird because that no one has seen the shoe, so more people bought the shoe they haven’t seen than, you know, if they see. Design, marketing and content creation need to be fuelled by digital creation. Everything is intertwined and there are no lines anymore.” concludes Till. 

Smart and Sustainable Future Ahead for the Footwear Industry

Flowers for Society has carved a path of its own in the footwear industry and Till and his team believe that the rest will follow. “Sustainability to me is a hygiene factor. We needed to create brand that acts in the most responsible manner.” The company’s sustainability agenda is built on three cornerstones. First one, being the on-demand production with industry leading ng end-to-end process that results in a faster, cleaner and more sustainable value chain. Secondly, the company only source recycled materials and additionally avoid using animal leather.  

The most notable difference in relation to the other more traditional companies is the use of digital design processes throughout the product pipeline. Till shared his thoughts with us: “I truly believe in the beauty of digital also not only from the creation standpoint, but also for the activation standpoint. It can see the radical effect on the processes it has. I started to see it already at Adidas, but it can be so much more when you build the whole business around the agility it can bring. It’s like a vision of mine.” 

Multitalented CAN-DO Designers Wanted!

Our Smart and Sustainable Design alumna Anna Kotelskaia joined Flowers for Society right after graduation in 2023. Her journey was a dream come true to many design students. Anna was looking for an internship, but her portfolio impressed Till in such a way that she ended up landing a full-time job.  

“Because it’s a start-up, I think one of the most significant points of me getting here was that I could do anything. I did some graphic design while studying and of course I knew how to make shoes, which was very helpful. Company needed someone who can do 3D and knows something about shoes. So the recent school projects in 3D modelling were definitely a plus,” Anna recalls. 

Till adds: “I was really intrigued by Anna’s portfolio because you find many people who can create shoes for Instagram, but you can’t find so many people who can create shoes for Instagram and then bring it to life with a technical knowledge and that is what we liked the most. I need people with a CAN-DO mentality. My dream setup is that everyone sits at the table and can somehow help to make it success. It was Anna who I asked to create the digital blind release that was a success.”  

According to Till’s views on what makes designers stand out from the others is when they understand the market, the need, and the why we actually trade. “That’s great, when designers understand business, marketing, consumer insights, consumer needs, market needs, and mechanics. Then in my opinion you become a great designer, and even more than a designer. If you want to make your name count, you need to bring more to the table then the rest. You need to be different,” he adds.  

"If you want to make your name count, you need to bring more to the table then the rest. You need to be different."

Since she started at Flowers for Society, Anna has worked on a new website platform for the company and created all the product shots for the website. Her tasks include creations of NFTs, making changes in models for the shoe, content pieces for Instagram including 3D motion pieces. Last year, Flowers for Society had 23 releases, and she wasn’t involved in only two of them. 

One of the most surprising things for Anna after starting to work for Flowers for Society was the work pace. Anna recalls her first weeks with the company: “It is a start-up so everything is pretty confusing and you never know what to expect. Release can happen in a week. For example, when I just started working we had to prepare a release within one week's notice. We had one week to make moving piece, a piece for Instagram and we needed to shoot the product shots by ourselves and that was kinda my first challenge to deliver on time and show that I can actually do that.” 

Till explains that start-up companies can not afford to have ten experts in a certain area.” I need people who can take something off my plate. That is also something I liked about Anna, she was able to add value and create for external world.” 

Till advices future design students to get as close to the reality as possible. Especially if working for a start-up as the conditions are different from the corporate world. “Start-up is about surviving, and everyone needs to understand that. If you have people who are too far away from the reality, it’s not a good consolation. Get close to the real life as much as possible and Instagram is not the real life. The reality is you need to make money to survive. I think designers very often have a very huge ego, but you need to bring it down. It’s not about yourself. It’s about the market and the consumer inside the community. And I think this is painful for like 90% of the design students. If you only want to do your own thing and stay in your bubble and your comfort zone then go to a corporation. If you want to go out of your comfort zone then go to a startup,” he says. 

"If it wouldn´t be for HAMK, I wouldn’t be here!"

Before we say goodbye to Till and Anna and end of the interview, Anna wants to share a message to the current students. “Don’t be scared, have your hopes up and know your worth. I have been there, so I understand how it feels but even when I was applying to Flowers for Society, I thought there is now way I am getting in and then I got reply in one and half hours! After working here for over a year now, I am at the point when I know what I can do and I know I have good background and not only because of the work, but also because of my studies. If it wouldn´t be for HAMK, I wouldn´t be here. The work helped me to bring the self-esteem and self-worth in the field, but it is just really about being aware of what you have done at the university and that your work is really precious.”