Geox put a waterproof membrane behind holes and made shoes breathe

Mario Moretti Polegato's starting problem was ordinary: rubber-soled shoes trapped heat and moisture. Cutting holes in the sole made them cooler, but it also invited water in. The obvious fixes were more absorbent linings or different upper materials.

His neat move was to treat the sole as a filter stack. Geox combined perforated sole layers with a waterproof, vapor-permeable membrane, letting perspiration leave while rain stayed out. WIPO describes the original rubber-sole patent family as EP0382904.

Established shoe makers did not take the license, so Polegato manufactured the product himself in 1995 with a bank loan and five employees, starting with children's shoes to test the concept on a shorter product cycle.

Make holes safe with a one-way membrane

The membrane separated two jobs that had been coupled: ventilation and waterproofing.

Starting with children's shoes reduced commercial risk while the new comfort claim was proven.

Patents protected the technical layer while the Geox and Respira marks made the invisible mechanism legible to shoppers.

When a forbidden feature would solve the problem, add an interface that blocks only the failure mode.

WIPO describes Geox as a global brand built around this patent-and-branding stack. By 2024, the group operated 616 single-brand shops and about 9,000 multi-brand points of sale, while continuing to file patents around breathable footwear and apparel.