On built a premium brand on distinctive design and a community of athletes. Now that brand is stretching from shoes into apparel.
↓ scroll to read
✦ The bottom line
On's moat is brand desirability. Its CloudTec sole made it recognizable; full-price selling and a direct relationship with customers made it profitable. The proof it's a brand and not just a shoe: apparel grew 57.5% and accessories 86.6% (constant currency) last quarter — customers want the whole label.
↓ the brief below
✦ Teach me
Pricing power & brand stretch
Pricing power is the ability to charge premium prices and still grow. On has it: a 64% gross margin (Chapter 2) and a 'full-price' selling model — it rarely needs to discount.
The deeper signal of a real brand is stretch: can it sell things beyond the original product? When customers who came for running shoes start buying On jackets and bags, the brand — not the product — is the moat.
Wall Street calls this
Brand equity / premium positioning
Anyone can make a shoe. A brand people will pay premium prices for, across categories, is far harder to copy. That's what protects On's high margins.
Apparel growth · Q1 2026 (constant currency)
+57.5
%
Apparel grew far faster than shoes (+24%), and accessories grew 86.6%. The brand is expanding beyond its running-shoe roots — the sign of real brand power.
A premium brand isn't built in a quarter. On's came from a specific sequence: a distinctive technology, then elite-athlete credibility, then a famous co-owner, then a global community. Here's how the moat was built.
How the brand got built
2010
On founded in Zurich. Its CloudTec cushioning — a sole that compresses then locks — gives the brand a distinctive, ownable technology.
2010s
Wins credibility with triathletes and runners, then expands across 90+ countries through specialty retail and a growing direct channel.
2019–2021
Tennis legend Roger Federer joins as investor and partner. On IPOs on the NYSE in 2021.
2022–2025
Pushes into apparel, lifestyle, and new regions; signs ambassadors like Zendaya and FKA Twigs. The brand outgrows the shoe.
From the 20-F · how On describes itself
Since our founding in the Swiss Alps in 2010, we have built a distinctive global brand with a passionate community across more than 90 countries.
↳ 'Distinctive' and 'community' are the moat in two words. On isn't competing on price — it's competing on identity, which is far harder for a rival to copy.
Source · 20-F · Business Overview · FY2025 · Filed Mar 3, 2026
✓
Strong
Premium pricing power (64% margin) plus brand stretch into apparel and accessories. The brand, not the shoe, is the moat.