About us

When Red Chili was first established over 25 years ago, climbing was still something for wild nature boys and girls. Of course, such people still exist today, but you’ll no longer just find them on remote rock faces but also in the many climbing and bouldering gyms where people can challenge themselves and boulder to their hearts content. 

Here at Red Chili, we inject just as much passion into giving you the right gear as you do when working on problems. We offer wonderfully comfortable climbing shoes that meet all the different requirements of plastic and rock as well as clothes that you’ll never want to take off again.

What makes Red Chili climbing shoes so special

Like their wearers, every pair of Red Chili climbing shoes has its very own character. Yet despite this, they all have one thing in common: Red Chili shoes accompany you wherever you go, like a close friend helping you progress in all situations. They help you overcome your problems and make sure your feet still work the next day. So it’s not just your shoes that you can count on, we also create ultra-comfortable, casual clothing—outfits you’ll feel great in whether in the gym, at the crag, or simply in your spare time.

What matters to us

Our Red Chili shoes are completely handmade. When developing the climbing shoes in our studio in Isny im Allgäu, we tinker with, test, and modify them until they fit perfectly and pass the strict judgment of our Red Chili athletes. But all feet are different. That’s why our portfolio is becoming ever more diverse. Our development activities are also shaped by the latest trends and styles. We furthermore believe that it’s particularly important to consider the needs of children and young people, whose feet are still growing, and to support them with their progress. We care about ecological and social responsibility. We not only rely on the use of sustainable or recycled materials for both, our shoes and our clothing, but are also a member of the Fair Wear Foundation since 2021. The Fair Wear Foundation is a multi-stakeholder initiative with the goal to improve the working conditions in the textile and garment industry around the globe, especially with a common work force of participating companies and suppliers.

To the EDELRID Social Report
To the Fair Wear Brand Performance Check

How it all began: the brand with the red pepper

Let’s go back to the then nature boys, Stefan Glowacz and Uwe Hofstädter, who had spent many years working as a rope team. They shared all the joys but also the agonies of climbing, which were mainly caused by painful climbing shoes. These used to either fit badly or simply be too tight and painful to wear.

Since then, there has been a lot of experimenting, developing, testing, discarding, improving, cursing, celebrating, and climbing. It’s been a long and lesson-filled journey from the first designs in Uwe’s garage to today’s models, which are made in the modern shoe studio in Isny im Allgäu. And a lot’s going on in the climbing scene. New disciplines and specializations are creating new requirements. We respond to these with our technical expertise as well as innovative techniques and materials. Feedback from our climbing and bouldering teams has always been and remains very important to us.

As our development work takes place on site, with the results implemented in our own studio, we are able to respond very quickly to changes. The close set-up keeps us flexible and makes it easy for us to try out and implement new concepts. In our daily business, this means constantly working on fresh ideas and occasionally breaking with convention. At the same time, our in-house development work ensures that the quality is right. And somewhere in between we naturally also test and climb in our shoes ourselves. After all, climbing and bouldering are our life... and that’s something you can feel in our products!

A few facts 

  • Red Chili is an EDELRID GROUP brand 
  • Red Chili products are designed and developed at the head office in Isny im Allgäu 
  • The brand ABS also belongs to the group 
  • Number of employees at EDELRID: approx. 220
  • Board of Directors: Albrecht von Dewitz, Vitus Wuhrer and Markus Wanner

Red Chili’s history in figures: our milestones

1996 

Stefan Glowacz and Uwe Hofstädter found the Red Chili brand. They develop the ideas for the shoes as well as the logo with the red chili pepper and register the brand. 

1998 

Following a short development period, the first models Red Chili DURAGE, MESCALITO, and ZORRO hit the shops.

1999 

The young brand’s climbing shoes are well received and the range of models is extended to include the Red Chili HABANERO, SAUSALITO, and DOS EQUIS. 

2000 

The world-famous English climber Ben Moon joins the Red Chili team and fuels the British market.

2001 

Stefan Glowacz completes the Alpine Trilogy (End of Silence, Des Kaisers neue Kleider, and Silbergeier) in the legendary Red Chili VOODOO, which establishes itself as a distinctive performance shoe.

2003 

‘Passion on the rocks’—what was previously a trend, would be simply inconceivable in advertising language today: Red Chili captures the sector’s attention with its VOODOO marketing campaign.

2005

The Red Chili SPIRIT and TORNADO are launched. Even today, the SPIRIT remains one of the most popular climbing shoes for both entry-level and mid-level climbers.

2007

The Red Chili SPIRIT and TORNADO are launched. Even today, the SPIRIT remains one of the most popular climbing shoes for both entry-level and mid-level climbers.

2010 

The portfolio grows with the URBAN CLIMBER, an abrasion resistant training shoe for climbing and bouldering gyms, and the MATADOR performance shoe.

2013

The first specific rental shoe is born: the Red Chili SESSION, the successors of which are still extremely popular choices for the rental sector.

2014 

Red Chili launches its first climbing clothing collection under the slogan ‘Only climbers know what climbers need’.

2016 

Red Chili marks its 20th anniversary with the slogan ‘Climbing Company since 1996’. In the same year, the shoe models ATOMIC & AMP (Made in Europe), LAOLA, and FLIPFLOP bring momentum to the climbing shoe market.

2017 

Red Chili and EDELRID enter into contact and plan their future merger—resulting in the new shoe model FUSION LV. The legendary VOLTAGE also injects power into the performance range.

2018 

Red Chili & EDELRID are now one. In the first year of the merger of the two German climbing brands, the new models VOLTAGE LV, FUSION, and CHARGER are launched

2019  

The first Red Chili Urban Tour. The Red Chili team tours climbing gyms with the newly born Testival, allowing everyone to test its shoe models first hand and see what they’re made of. The concept is so successful that the tour is repeated twice a year in the subsequent years.

2021

The brand-new performance shoe MYSTIX takes performance-oriented climbers to new heights. The PUZZLE, an ergonomic shoe containing a high proportion of recycled material, is specially developed for young people.

2022

The SENSOR, a particularly sensitive performance shoe, is launched.

2023

A new and fresh design: the Red Chili website relaunches with a new look and feel. The Red Chili brand image is refreshed and the company’s own online shop opens