Conventional wisdom would suggest a sneaker with Federer’s name on it might be of the performance variety—one we’d hopefully see him wearing on the court next summer. Allemann said one of his long-term ambitions is to incorporate natural, bio-based materials (in lieu of the usual plastic or leather) that still live up to customers’ expectations. Lately, however, despite stressing that he is far from finished playing, Mr. Federer has started to talk more openly about what comes next. When he joined On as an entrepreneur, Roger became a close partner to our founders and the On team. Pundits have been predicting Mr. Federer’s retirement for almost a decade. The Roger is On’s second lifestyle shoe, following the sold-out These sneakers aren’t meant for running. Federer started to wear Ons for his sprints training, and has been building a relationship with the brand ever since. “I learned to embrace personal style a while ago, both on and off the court,” Mr. Federer said, noting that sneakers were increasingly a part of men’s style. Mr. Federer had originally met the On founders over dinner two years ago, several years after he had first noticed how many people in Switzerland were wearing their shoes.“They were impossible to ignore because everyone had them, people on the street, my friends, my wife,” he said. If everyone is going to start wearing sneakers, we want to add the functional benefit.”“It’s interesting to see how the casual and comfortable materials we use for sports are coming more into our everyday lives, especially now that we’re all working from home,” Federer added. “Now,” he said, “it feels good committing to what will come next.”Roger Federer in London getting hands-on with his new investment, the Swiss sneaker company On.The distinctive logo and CloudTec sole make On products stand out.The founders of On (from left), Olivier Bernhard, David Allemann and Caspar Coppetti, at the On design studio in Zurich.Mr. Anderson wear Clouds; so do Hollywood types like Will Smith, John Malkovich and Emma Stone (the company said it does not pay people to wear its products). When Mr. Bernhard and his co-founders, Mr. Coppetti and David Allemann, considered next steps and bringing on a new partner, their thoughts turned to the most famous Swiss person in the world.“Yes we have chocolate and watches, but Roger is one of the biggest Swiss exports ever and has done wonders for the image of Switzerland abroad,” Mr. Coppetti said. Federer’s arrival at On comes at an important time in the evolution of both the brand and the According to its founders, On has been profitable since 2014. But why shouldn’t your go-to shoe—the one you might spend most of your time wearing—be just as comfortable and considered? Reaktive Traktion, unerreichte Dämpfung. You can get a glimpse in the Juergen Teller photo above and by tuning into The latest fashion news, beauty coverage, celebrity style, fashion week updates, culture reviews, and videos on Vogue.com.A daily recap of the biggest runway news, latest trends, and emerging designers. “If you look at other tennis-inspired shoes, they were designed a really long time ago, back when Björn Borg and John McEnroe were playing tennis”—and most have retained the same clunky, vulcanized rubber soles.

“But the signature On aesthetic — which is very design forward — has also appealed to tastemakers from the sneaker community,” he said. “It’s not for tennis, it’s for the street,” he said on a Zoom video call from On’s design studio in Zurich. “We said, let’s use today’s technology so they’re actually comfortable.”The challenge was to incorporate those cushy soles and technical tweaks without adding heft. That’s because Mr. Federer has something of a sneaker fixationThe Swiss tennis champion is not an “obsessive,” he said (slightly hard to believe about someone who has won 20 Grand Slam trophies), but still he is “always looking at other people’s feet in airports.” Earlier this month, when Mr. Federer was in London to play in the ATP Finals, he said in an interview that he owns at least 250 pairs of sneakers.