25 Years of Red Chili Shoes

The red chili pepper is celebrating 25 years of characterful climbing shoes – are you joining us?

What set Red Chili climbing shoes apart right from the outset was their unique level of comfort. This was also the factor that triggered Stefan Glowacz and Uwe Hofstädter to produce their own climbing shoes in 1996. Over a glass of red wine, the two friends and avid climbers mused on the joys and sorrows of climbing, in particular the uncomfortable shoes and the painful feet that they caused. They started to ask themselves why they shouldn’t develop their own climbing shoes. Inspired by the rhythmic sounds of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, they quickly hit upon a company name. After an intensive period of experimentation, development, and extensive testing, the first three Red Chili climbing shoes were ready for market in 1998: the models Durango, Mescalito, and Zorro. And so, the red chili pepper’s story began…

How did the Red Chili story continue? Our Milestones

1996
1999
2001
2005
2010
2014
2017
2019
2022

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

How much Stefan and Uwe have always been ahead of the times they showed with the development of the CORONA VCR model.

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 and 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

One chili pepper, many faces

The development of our logo

Over the last quarter of a century, our chili pepper has undergone several development phases and facelifts. When the company was first established in 1996, the design of the Red Chili logo had a somewhat Mexican feel: a squiggly font seasoned with the heat of a red chili pepper. In later years, the logo became less embellished but the colors and layout remained the same. In 2020, the word and figurative marks were separated to enable the text ‘Red Chili’ and the chili pepper image to also be used independently. Just three years later, the logo was given its greatest level of freedom yet: the text was released from the frame and the chili pepper has since been allowed to roam free.

    2003: Passion on the rocks

    Inconceivable today, at the time this slogan attracted a great deal of attention within the industry: the multi-part advertising campaign in renowned climbing magazines caught the eye away from rock faces.

    2023: Fired up for

    Here at Red Chili, we are ‘fired up for’ climbing and bouldering. We always have been and always will be passionate about everything we do. All those who climb with Red Chili embody the chili pepper’s fiery spirit, from young talent to our athletes and from beginners to pros.