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(image 1 , 2) Let’s first correct a common misconception: the tank tread soles (Tank shoes) used by Carol Christian Poell are not from Vibram as many bloggers claim, but actually from a niche Italian rubber sole manufacturer with a 40-year history, Gommus, and specifically from their outdoor line called St. Moritz. Take a look at the comparison images (Images 2–3). On a 2681T sole that wasn’t fully ground down, you can clearly see the St. Moritz logo.

Let’s talk a bit about St. Moritz. Vibram originally invented their outdoor lug sole in response to a mountaineering accident that happened to a friend in the Alps. St. Moritz, located in eastern Switzerland and surrounded by the Alps, is famous for tourism and snow sports (Image 4). Gommus naming their outdoor line after this place was likely a marketing decision.

Now back to the point. Why would Poell grind off the brand logo rather than highlight the use of a known brand like Vibram? The answer is pretty clear. He wants uniqueness but doesn’t have the volume needed to justify a custom mold.

(Image 5 , 6) Take the word “SAFE” as an example. This word frequently appears on product labels and shoes, positioned right below Poell’s full name. The brand’s hardware is outsourced to a workshop near Vicenza that normally produces metal toe caps and other safety components for workwear. Many of the “SAFE” parts are engraved or indented (like the LIFT lettering on airplane seatbelt buckles, see Image 7), and grinding them off would seriously affect aesthetics. Creating a custom mold with his own brand logo would be even more expensive than having Bonotto use antique looms to produce custom fabrics (at least Bonotto’s output can be reused by other brands to offset the cost). So at some point, one “SAFE” was left intact and printed underneath “Carol Christian Poell,” unintentionally becoming a part of the brand’s visual language.

Gommus, by the way, has a custom production division called GommusLab. One of their clients is Church’s, a century-old British heritage brand under Prada, and they use soles with brand logos and integrated technologies (see Image 8, which also features Gommus’s lightweight sole tech, Blowtech). This shows that Poell likely purchases St. Moritz soles unofficially and has them processed by his own subcontractors. He probably avoids Vibram because even if you grind off the embedded octagonal logo, it’s still highly recognizable at a glance. It’s a label-removal maneuver similar to those seen in the apparel world, used to avoid legal issues. It reminds me of how a certain brand once used S- and G-brand technical fabrics for their garments, only to be warned by agents not to label or promote them publicly.

(Image 8 , 9)

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This content is a translated version of the original content by Mascara_11 Thank you to Mascara_11 for your research. Honor to Mascara_11 :))