On Running Footwear

Caspar Coppetti, David Allemann, and Olivier Bernhard —the three founders of On running — united over their shared love of running and dedication to helping runners worldwide meet their athletic needs.

A retired professional competitive runner as a six-time Ironman champion and three-time world duathlon champion, Bernhard’s goal was to find a running shoe to achieve the perfect running sensation. He started to pursue this goal in 2009 after his retirement. While on this journey, he met a like-minded engineer who had a new idea for running shoes, and they formed a partnership.

Dozens of prototypes were created in these early days, which caught the attention of Caspar Coppetti and David Allemann, who decided to join the project. And in 2010, the trio formally established the On brand in Zurich.

The brand’s name was a simple play on a radical idea that guided the entire brand. The goal of the shoe was to make people feel as though they were “running on clouds,” with the brand simply going by “On.”