Since 1904, Angulus has developed, designed and produced quality footwear. Now, the third generation has taken over the management of the family business with an ambition to encourage more people to buy fewer and more responsible shoes, including in the USA, which the Danish shoe brand anticipates as the next expansion adventure.

“The world is suffering from massive overconsumption, and we want to be an alternative by designing and selling responsibly produced quality shoes that last longer and can be passed down from foot to foot,” says Clara Dawe, the new chairwoman of the board at Angulus. She continues:

“Our goal is to have more feet walk in fewer and more responsible shoes.”

Angulus, which as a company and shoe brand took its first steps in Nørrebro, Copenhagen in 1904, has been owned and operated by the Dawe family since 1949. Initially by Roland, then Christian, and today by the third generation, Sebastian, and Clara Dawe.

“It wasn’t immediately apparent that Clara and I would take over the management, operation and development of Angulus. In fact, our father, along with the board, had initiated a sales process. But we actively chose to take over – first me and then Clara – and now it’s our turn to develop the company in a way where we, as a shoe brand and workplace, can set meaningful milestones and get even more people in more countries to choose quality shoes that last for generations,” says Sebastian Dawe.

Since 2020, Sebastian Dawe has been the CEO, and from June 2023, Clara Dawe has been the chairwoman of the board. The former director, Sebastian and Clara’s father, Christian Dawe, remains on the board and acts as a sparring partner for the third generation.

 

 

New business focus defined by love
With the generational shift comes a new business strategy and an intensified focus on responsibility. For years, the company behind Angulus, ATC Footwear, has not only developed, designed and produced shoes under the Angulus brand. The family-owned company also had the agency for several renowned shoe brands, including Lloyd, which at one point was produced at the Angulus factory then located on Nørrebrogade in Copenhagen. Going forward, the company will only focus on its own shoe brand.

“Our love lies in the Angulus brand, and it’s also where we can have full oversight of the entire production chain from design and development to production and sales. Therefore, we have ended all agency agreements to focus on what we can fully control, influence and develop,” says Sebastian Dawe.

In 2020, the family opened its own factory in Portugal, where most of the shoes are produced today by around 95 local shoemakers. All designs are developed in Denmark and sold through the family’s flagship store in Copenhagen, via their webshop and around the world through distributors and agreements with stores and department stores. Denmark is and will always be the home market, but over the years, Angulus has also gained a strong foothold in other Scandinavian and European consumers. China has been a focus market for a decade, and the next big expansion adventure is to enter the American market. On both existing and future markets, the business philosophy will be the same: To sell quality footwear for the whole family. Quality shoes that are also responsible.

 

Aiming to be a meaningful company
For Sebastian and Clara Dawe, the way to run and develop the company is crucial to whether they themselves will call Angulus a success. It should be meaningful and developing to go to work, and the end product should leave a smaller footprint:

“We are not in the world to chase profit-maximising goals. On the contrary. The company must earn money and grow, of course, but the bar is that we should help make a positive difference for our customers, employees and our planet, which needs care and consideration,” says Clara Dawe.

“In the next few years, we need to realise a revenue growth of about five percent per year. A balanced revenue growth that must not be at the expense of either people or the planet, and which should finance our strengthened focus on responsibility and our ambition to also sell responsible quality shoes in the American market,” says Sebastian Dawe.

In the family, the generational shift from the first conversation to the completed realization has had a crucial headline:

“We looked each other in the eye and set as an all-encompassing premise that as a family, we should always want to spend Christmas together,” concludes Sebastian Dawe.