--- title: 'Rothy''s — company profile' canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/companies/rothy-s' type: 'company' updated: '2026-07-02' --- # Rothy's > Sustainable direct-to-consumer footwear and accessories brand making machine-washable shoes and bags from recycled plastic bottles. - **Website:** https://rothys.com/careers - **Type:** Private (majority stake held by Alpargatas; founder-backed with Goldman Sachs and Lightspeed as investors) - **Headquarters:** San Francisco, California, United States - **Founded:** 2015 - **Founders:** Stephen Hawthornthwaite, Roth Martin - **Valuation:** $1B (December 2021, Alpargatas investment) - **Total raised:** Approximately $475M in the 2021 Alpargatas transaction (49.9% stake), atop earlier venture rounds including $35M from Goldman Sachs Investment Partners (2018) - **Latest round:** Alpargatas strategic investment, December 2021 ($200M primary + ~$275M secondary; $1B valuation) - **Investors:** Alpargatas, Goldman Sachs Investment Partners, Lightspeed Venture Partners - **Business model:** Vertically integrated direct-to-consumer retail: a wholly-owned factory produces recycled-thread, 3D-knit products sold full-price through rothys.com and company-owned stores, with a growing wholesale channel and seasonal markdown events. - **Industries:** Retail - **Open roles:** 69 - **Profile:** https://feeny.ai/companies/rothy-s ## What they do Designs, manufactures, and sells machine-washable shoes, bags, and accessories knit from thread made of recycled plastic bottles, sold direct-to-consumer online and through its own retail stores. ## Overview **The shoe brand betting plastic bottles can be luxury** Rothy's built a business on a strange premise: that a woman would happily pay $150 for flats spun from old water bottles, then throw them in the washing machine. It worked. Since 2015 the company has turned more than 225 million single-use plastic bottles and 715,000 pounds of ocean-bound marine plastic into a signature knit thread, and stitched that thread into flats, sneakers, loafers, and handbags people actually want to be seen in. Founders Stephen Hawthornthwaite and Roth Martin started it as a digital-first brand out of San Francisco, then did the thing most direct-to-consumer darlings never manage: they opened real stores and kept the factory in-house. In late 2021 Alpargatas, the Brazilian owner of Havaianas, bought a 49.9% stake at a $1 billion valuation, and the founders have since handed day-to-day control to a retail-veteran executive team chasing a bigger physical footprint. ## What They Do **Recycled thread, 3D knit, thrown in the wash** Rothy's makes machine-washable shoes and bags out of recycled plastic. The trick is the material: they melt down plastic bottles into a fine RPET thread, then use 3D knitting to form each upper in a single continuous piece with no stitched seams, which cuts the offcut waste that plagues traditional cut-and-sew footwear. Handcrafted assembly finishes the job. That combination is the whole pitch. The shoes look like normal flats and sneakers, they hold up for years of daily wear, and when they get grubby you toss them in a gentle cold cycle instead of the trash. It is sustainability sold as convenience rather than sacrifice, which is a large part of why it stuck. ## Products **Flats first, then a whole closet** The famous pointed and round-toe flats are still the anchor, but Rothy's has spent years widening the aisle. There are now sneakers, Mary Janes, clogs, and loafers for women, a men's line of sneakers and loafers, a full kids' range, and a growing bags business of totes, crossbodies, and backpacks woven from the same recycled thread. The newest wrinkle is on the material side. In 2025 the company introduced ReVelvet, a recycled-plastic take on velvet for limited-edition styles, a sign it still treats the fabric itself as the product, not just the shoe shape. ## Who It's For **The style-first shopper who wants the guilt-free version** The core customer is a woman who wants a versatile, comfortable everyday shoe and likes that the sustainability story comes free with it. Rothy's leans into that: the flats go from office to travel, the bags are pitched as workday-to-weekend, and the whole line trades on looking good first and being recycled second. From there it fans out to men, kids, and gift-buyers, plus the bridal shopper hunting comfortable flats for a long day on her feet. The common thread is someone who will pay a premium for design and durability and treats the eco angle as a tiebreaker, not the reason to buy. ### Ideal customer profiles - **Everyday style shopper** — Wants versatile, comfortable shoes that go from work to travel; Wants to look good without a break-in period - **Sustainability-minded consumer** — Wants lower-waste products; Wants a credible environmental story, not greenwashing ## Business Model **Own the factory, own the store, own the customer** Rothy's is vertically integrated in a way most DTC brands are not. It runs its own wholly-owned factory rather than outsourcing production, which gives it control over the recycled-thread process and the 3D knitting that make the product possible. It sells straight to shoppers through rothys.com and a growing fleet of its own retail stores, with a light push into wholesale. Pricing is straightforward full-price retail: flats and sneakers sit in the roughly $100 to $200 range, bags higher, with seasonal markdown events rather than a subscription or tiered model. The margin math leans on selling direct and keeping the supply chain in the family. ### Plans Rothy's sells at full retail per item rather than through subscriptions or tiers. Flats and sneakers generally sit in the roughly $100 to $200 range, with bags priced higher, and the brand runs periodic markdown events (such as a Semi Annual sale and seasonal promotions) rather than everyday discounting. Good to know: No subscription or membership model; standard e-commerce per-item pricing.; Free shipping and easy returns promoted sitewide.; Runs seasonal markdown events; final-sale items are non-returnable.; Ships to the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Europe/UK. ## Competition **Sustainable comfort, in a crowded closet** Rothy's competes with the sustainable-sneaker set like Allbirds and the broader washable-flats and comfort-shoe market that filled with copycats once the recycled-knit flat proved it could sell. Its edge is less any single feature than the stack of them held together: a proprietary recycled thread, an in-house factory, a decade of brand equity, and a real store network that most DTC rivals lack. The risk is the flip side of the premium. Copycats undercut on price, the material absorbs water and offers modest arch support, and shoppers who want cheaper or more technical footwear have plenty of options. Rothy's answer is to keep pushing new materials and categories so it is not defending a single hit product. ### Their edge - **Material moat** — A proprietary recycled thread plus 3D-knit process that is hard to replicate at quality. - **Vertical integration** — A wholly-owned factory gives control over cost, quality, and the sustainability story most DTC rivals outsource. - **Omnichannel reach** — A real and growing store fleet on top of e-commerce, rare among DTC-native peers. ### Where they're betting - Physical store expansion - New materials and categories - International and wholesale growth ## Proof **225 million bottles and a record sales year** The numbers Rothy's likes to lead with are environmental: more than 225 million single-use plastic bottles and 715,000 pounds of ocean-bound marine plastic diverted into its thread. Those are the receipts on the sustainability claim, and they are baked into nearly every job posting and product page. On the business side, the brand crossed a reported record $211 million in sales, powered heavily by its expanding store fleet, and by 2018 had already sold over a million pairs. The physical stores, once an afterthought for a digital-first brand, turned into the growth engine. ## What People Say **Comfortable and washable, with a wet-weather asterisk** Reviewers consistently praise the comfort and the near-zero break-in, the one-piece knit that feels broken in from day one, and durability that stretches to several years of heavy wear. The washability is the feature people rave about most, and customer service earns repeat compliments. The complaints are just as consistent. The knit is not very stretchy, so a bad size out of the box stays bad, the material soaks up water on rainy days, and arch support is thin for anyone who needs it. Fair praise, fair criticism, and both recur across independent reviews rather than one-off gripes. ## Funding **A $1 billion valuation and a Brazilian owner-in-waiting** Rothy's raised across a decade from investors including Goldman Sachs Investment Partners, which put in $35 million in 2018, and Lightspeed Venture Partners. The defining deal came in December 2021, when Havaianas owner Alpargatas took a 49.9% stake for about $475 million, split as $200 million in fresh capital and roughly $275 million buying out existing shareholders, at a $1 billion valuation. The structure matters: the deal handed Alpargatas a call option to buy the rest of those shares between the first and fourth anniversary, which effectively puts Rothy's on a path to becoming a subsidiary of a global footwear group rather than an independent brand chasing an IPO. ## Team & Culture **A female-led team and a factory that hires like a startup** Rothy's runs a purpose-first culture where the sustainability mission is the recruiting pitch, repeated at the top of every job description. Co-founders Stephen Hawthornthwaite and Roth Martin stepped back in 2024 to Chair and Chief Creative and Innovation Officer, bringing in retail veteran Jenny Ming, from the founding team of Old Navy, as CEO with Dayna Quanbeck as President; Quanbeck has since taken the CEO seat. The hiring tells the growth story better than any headcount number. The company is staffing up across footwear engineering, design, merchandising, and supply chain at its San Francisco HQ, and opening stores across the country with a wave of retail manager and ambassador roles in cities like New York, Boston, Philadelphia, and Dallas. Offices are hybrid and, notably, dog-friendly. ## Compensation **Hourly retail floors, six figures for corporate and product** Pay splits cleanly along the two halves of the business. Retail and store roles are hourly, running roughly $17 to $39 an hour depending on city and level, while corporate roles in San Francisco and New York are salaried, from the low $80,000s for planners up into the mid-$200,000s and above for senior design, merchandising, and product leadership. All ranges are base pay. Rothy's notes most roles may also be eligible for discretionary bonuses or incentives on top, though it does not disclose equity in its postings. ## Security & Legal **Rothy's, Inc., registered in San Francisco** The legal entity is Rothy's, Inc., doing business as Rothy's, operating out of San Francisco, with California law governing its terms and a binding arbitration clause for US customers. Its terms of service run through a Shopify-hosted storefront. The privacy policy, effective January 2023, spells out standard e-commerce data practices: it collects customer and purchase data, combines it with third-party data providers, and honors California and Virginia state privacy rights along with GDPR obligations for European and UK shoppers, for whom Rothy's acts as data controller. ## In the News **New leadership, new stores, and a path to full ownership** The headlines of the last few years track a brand growing up. Alpargatas's 2021 investment set the valuation and the ownership trajectory; the 2024 leadership reset brought in seasoned retail operators as the founders moved upstairs; and the store-expansion push has become the sales story, with the fleet growing by roughly half in a single year and a record sales figure to show for it. ### Coverage - [Alpargatas Announces Strategic Investment in Rothy's](https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/alpargatas-announces-strategic-investment-in-rothys-a-digital-first-sustainable-footwear-brand-based-in-san-francisco-california-301448544.html) — PR Newswire (2021-12-27) - [Havaianas Owner Buys Into Rothy's, Valuing Sustainable Shoe Brand At $1 Billion](https://www.forbes.com/sites/markfaithfull/2021/12/28/havaianas-owner-buys-into-rothys-valuing-sustainable-shoe-brand-at-1-billion/) — Forbes (2021-12-28) - [Brazilian footwear company buys 49.9% stake in Rothy's](https://www.retaildive.com/news/brazilian-footwear-company-buys-499-stake-in-rothys/616405/) — Retail Dive (2021-12-28) - [Rothy's Inc. Announces Leadership Transition Supporting Company's Next Chapter of Growth](https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/rothys-inc-announces-leadership-transition-supporting-companys-next-chapter-of-growth-302030470.html) — PR Newswire (2024-01-09) - [Rothy's store fleet helped catapult the brand to a record $211M in sales](https://www.modernretail.co/operations/rothys-store-fleet-helped-catapult-the-brand-to-a-record-211m-in-sales/) — Modern Retail (2024) - [Next Billion-Dollar Startups: Rothy's Makes This Year's 'It' Shoe](https://www.forbes.com/sites/amyfeldman/2019/07/16/rothys-shoes/) — Forbes (2019-07-16) ## Outlook **Growing on the ground while Alpargatas waits in the wings** Rothy's next chapter is physical. The bet is that opening more stores, pushing into the South, and layering in wholesale keeps the top line climbing past its record year, while new materials like ReVelvet keep the product from going stale. Hanging over all of it is the Alpargatas call option. Whether Rothy's stays a semi-independent brand or folds fully into a global footwear group is a decision that may not be entirely its own to make, and it shapes how much of this growth accrues to the company versus its majority-owner-in-waiting. ## Company details - **Mission:** Make sustainable products people love, turning plastic waste into stylish, washable footwear and accessories while striving for zero waste. - **Products:** Women's Shoes, Bags & Accessories, Men's Shoes, Kids' Shoes, ReVelvet - **Customer segments:** Women, Men, Kids, Gift buyers, Bridal - **Buyers / users:** Style-conscious everyday shoppers, Sustainability-minded consumers, Comfort-seeking professionals and travelers - **Competitors:** Allbirds, Other sustainable and washable-flat brands, Comfort-footwear copycats - **What sets them apart:** Proprietary recycled-plastic (RPET) thread and seamless 3D-knit construction; Wholly-owned factory (vertical integration uncommon for DTC brands); Machine-washable products; Omnichannel presence combining e-commerce with a growing owned-store fleet; Measurable sustainability impact (225M+ bottles, 715K+ lbs marine plastic diverted) - **Tech stack:** 3D knitting, Recycled RPET thread, Machine-washable construction ## Open roles (69) - [Part-Time Retail Ambassador - Bridgeport Village](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/rothys/a7ac279f-3992-4ce2-a3ee-5213b40d43dc) — Scottsdale, AZ - [Store Manager - Newbury](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/rothys/ac978c8b-44b8-4516-b721-e621b534f0d1) — Boston, MA - [Part-Time Keyholder - Lincoln Park](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/rothys/c0f55f9f-b622-47aa-98b3-d9518cdbb057) — Chicago, IL - [Part-Time Retail Ambassador - Woodbury Commons](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/rothys/9b130947-3d91-4ae8-a2d1-1942200c2978) — Central Valley, NY - [Assistant Store Manager - Nolita](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/rothys/86a8e5a6-190c-4aef-8bdc-086c7f0ee9e2) — New York, NY - [Part-Time Retail Ambassador - Garden State Plaza](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/rothys/eeb576ac-8671-4c39-bdea-6ed945ec48a3) — Paramus, NJ - [Part-Time Retail Ambassador - The Shops at La Cantera](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/rothys/b1cdc9a4-9c59-4f5b-b0b9-1300880f4eb0) — San Antonio, TX - [Part-Time Keyholder - Greenwich](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/rothys/5c2f8cab-c77d-4501-a99d-006a3be4f3a8) — Greenwich, CT - [Part-Time Retail Ambassador - Fifth Avenue](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/rothys/f4dba7d8-bded-4543-ace5-84d1faf1c664) — New York, NY - [Senior Merchant, Womens Footwear](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/rothys/b2d11469-b9d4-409c-9563-9d43fcb52f2f) — San Francisco, CA - [Store Manager - Buckhead Village](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/rothys/7e4bd621-542c-4558-8c81-54991fe10cc6) — Atlanta, GA - [Store Manager - University Village](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/rothys/4f18dbf8-d394-480b-9388-1a6014eff402) — Seattle, WA - [Temporary SAP Production Coordinator](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/rothys/ea923d58-2eea-4d27-a6df-ed5f4db27407) — San Francisco, CA - [Part-Time Retail Ambassador - Nolita](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/rothys/cbc6aced-8851-4dc0-8fa6-c5b0db94481b) — New York, NY - [Store Manager - Georgetown](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/rothys/bdb1b2d6-0635-4879-a822-2eae9749afcb) — Washington, DC - [Manager, Footwear Engineering](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/rothys/9d73d057-e756-4f44-8ccf-fff0b8343883) — San Francisco, CA - [Part-Time Retail Ambassador - City Place](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/rothys/b5ca8bb3-c486-4095-a304-9b44095410a6) — West Palm Beach, FL - [Retail Construction Project Manager, East](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/rothys/77746ecb-4f3e-4490-b7da-f90874d627e5) — New York, NY - [Full-Time Keyholder - Bridgeport Village](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/rothys/b7c8ef99-caf0-4e83-a2a3-0631a19b8499) — Tigard, OR - [Full-Time Keyholder - Ala Moana](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/rothys/26951a58-3298-4bff-9aa6-62d4353ae8ef) — Honolulu, HI - [Part-Time Retail Ambassador - Houston Galleria](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/rothys/b225cbb9-2658-4cff-a7a5-de0573bc9903) — Houston, TX - [Temporary Creative Operations Project Coordinator](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/rothys/a0e1162a-ddb4-4d7b-8d1e-47ced9e0b24a) — San Francisco, CA - [Part-Time Retail Ambassador - Houston Galleria](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/rothys/f406b2bd-7b3b-4349-8ef3-1d31d5441a64) — Houston, TX - [Seasonal Retail Ambassador - Fashion Island](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/rothys/4db1ccff-7515-45f5-8087-53005af4bcee) — Newport Beach, CA - [Part-Time Retail Ambassador - Greenwich](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/rothys/27194732-12e8-4e24-87b4-8d3d1b7d50cf) — Greenwich, CT - [Part-Time Keyholder - Domain Northside](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/rothys/4a8fcb19-f629-481d-a222-4fa63a8a10de) — Austin, TX - [Part-Time Retail Ambassador - Buckhead Village](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/rothys/6293214b-8c70-4b1d-8ad3-21528627b054) — Atlanta, GA - [Part-Time Retail Ambassador - Legacy Place](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/rothys/3ddcba15-15c8-4f46-bca5-863d2c400e52) — Dedham, MA - [Part-Time Retail Ambassador - Green Hills](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/rothys/f25e612e-375a-422d-a1cc-1faebbee1a31) — Nashville, TN - [Store Manager - Nolita](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/rothys/a99275f0-3e59-40c5-9ca8-d10e26526eb1) — New York, NY - [Senior Handbag and Accessories Designer - Women’s](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/rothys/62a0cbf8-7c8e-47b1-a96a-ad864c4644fa) — San Francisco, CA - [Full-Time Keyholder - Edina Galleria](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/rothys/442731cb-4c3e-4015-923a-9ce4c5aee8fe) — Minneapolis, MN - [Part-Time Retail Ambassador - Larchmont](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/rothys/6ab7065b-1e33-4976-913a-19cff289c9f2) — Los Angeles, CA - [Part-Time Keyholder - Roseville](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/rothys/62968866-b52b-4cbe-9c10-615722bb1e51) — Roseville, CA - [Merchandise Planner](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/rothys/94596523-f462-48c4-807a-56158794256a) — San Francisco, CA - [Full-Time Keyholder - Tysons Corner](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/rothys/ea377dae-5239-4ee5-a572-88cc4b2df363) — Tysons, VA - [Seasonal Retail Ambassador - Ala Moana](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/rothys/a8ba48ac-2798-4c21-aab0-e7de017590ce) — Honolulu, HI - [Part-Time Keyholder - Green Hills](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/rothys/babeb155-bdda-4d7b-9223-9863bde89230) — Nashville, TN - [Product Manager Lead (Front End)](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/rothys/7eafae6a-9e3d-4dfd-9384-bef0d9244e9a) — New York, NY - [Part-Time Retail Ambassador - Fashion Show](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/rothys/3cc3bf32-95c1-4b36-93c7-7b2abbfc89f6) — Las Vegas, NV - [Full-Time Keyholder - Newbury](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/rothys/b875369a-ee5e-426e-90fa-5458cba018d3) — Boston, MA - [Part-Time Retail Ambassador - Fillmore](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/rothys/bcb45279-5121-42ee-9025-b10b0eced3ed) — San Francisco, CA - [Part-Time Retail Ambassador - University Town Center](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/rothys/6b6043af-6a41-424c-a702-e40d08bf0631) — San Diego, CA - [Part-Time Retail Ambassador - Ala Moana](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/rothys/afcb1c66-809d-4567-a024-4c7ea2089b37) — Honolulu, HI - [Full-Time Keyholder - Buckhead Village](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/rothys/dc6cd17a-e65d-4987-87fb-19799f63925e) — Atlanta, GA - [Chief Financial Officer](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/rothys/4c0341f4-296a-4bf4-9dc0-cd4ba6840309) — San Francisco, CA - [Seasonal Retail Ambassador - Upper West Side](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/rothys/2c8aea2a-a1f6-4cd0-81c3-c77e83e29700) — New York, NY - [Seasonal Retail Ambassador - Fashion Island](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/rothys/682d9b77-5665-4e64-8762-5be8082f37ef) — Newport Beach, CA - [Seasonal Retail Ambassador - Short Hills](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/rothys/7391a3f6-9abd-4895-8c7c-9d41b9f16b71) — Short Hills, NJ - [Part-Time Keyholder - Bridgeport Village](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/rothys/815d9ac2-0565-4728-9a54-7f4d4ddb6202) — Tigard, OR _…and 19 more at https://feeny.ai/companies/rothy-s/jobs_ --- _Source: https://feeny.ai/companies/rothy-s · profile updated 2026-07-02_