Geox aiming to be among leading sports shoe manufacturer

Geox SpA chairman Mario Polegato said he wants to be among the leading players in selling sports shoes, building on the recent launch of its first sports products, a line of running shoes.

In an interview in Corriere della Sera, Polegato reiterated his target of a 50:50 sales split between shoes and clothing, all with a distinctive technology to deal with the body's sweat.

'Also here (on sports shoes) the technology is the best, a factor the other players have recently lost sight of a little,' he said.

'In a short time, we will be among the leaders (players). In fact, I want to become the world leader,' he said, referring to sports shoes.

The newspaper said Geox launched its running shoes two months ago, ahead of shoes for other sports, in a challenge to Adidas (other-otc: ADDDY.PK - news - people ) and Nike (nyse: NKE - news - people ).

On clothing, Polegato said shoes still represent 93 percent of sales and the company is investing heaving in 'casualwear' clothing, 'always with the same philosophy: to sweat is horrible'.

Geox has filed many patents, including in China, to protect the technology that allows his shoes and clothing 'to breathe' and deal with sweat, he said.