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Sept 12 (Reuters) – Birkenstock, the German premium footwear brand backed by private equity firm L Catterton, on Tuesday filed for an initial public offering in the United States.

The company, which traces its roots back to 1774, is a sixth-generation family-owned business. Most of its products are manufactured in facilities in Rhineland-Palatinate, North Rhine-Westphalia, Hesse and Saxony in Germany.

Birkenstock’s trademark typically has been comfort rather than fashion. On its website, the company says all elements of its design – the buckles, the straps, the sole and the footbed – have a “functional purpose”.

But it has also found favor among fashion aficionados, reportedly more so in recent weeks after one of its brands was featured in the blockbuster movie “Barbie”, where Margot Robbie was seen donning a pair of pink Birkenstocks.

(Reporting by Niket Nishant and Akash Sriram in Bengaluru; Editing by Devika Syamnath)

((Niket.Nishant@thomsonreuters.com;))

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