Geox on Wednesday unwrapped its first pair of running shoes as the rapidly growing Italian company seeks to take on the giants of global sportswear.

Geox, which is based in north-east Italy, was founded only in 1995 and has enjoyed explosive growth so far only in the “brown shoe” market – mid-priced work and casual shoes. Its 2007 revenues rose 26 per cent on the year before at €770m ($1.2bn).