Snowleader Relaunches Eider in Europe
Written by Patricia REY
Published on July 13th, 2022
The phygital brand of outdoor sports items Snowleader has just signed a license agreement with the Korean group K2 for the design and distribution of the Eider brand in Europe.
This agreement is the sign of a real change in strategy for the Annecy company, which is moving from distributor to producer/distributor (Editor's note, even if the brand already designs and subcontracts the manufacture of certain own-brand products such as covers ski bags, textiles, etc. and water bottles, which represent 5% of turnover). The first collection, made up of two skiwear and outdoor/trekking ranges for multi-activity outdoor practitioners, will be marketed exclusively in August 2023 on the Snowleader and Eider.com websites, with the aim of extending it to more new segments such as ski touring, cycling…. and mountaineering. For this, its founding CEO Thomas Rouault has created a business unit in Metz-Tessy , at the company's headquarters. It will be based on the skills of the design office L'etiquette , created in Glaisins by five former employees of Eider (including Lionel Ducruet), in charge of design, conception and industrialization. As for production, it will be outsourced to different partners and in different countries depending on the nature of the products.
As a reminder, the ski and outdoor clothing brand Eider was sold in 2018 by Millet Mountain Group to its Korean licensee K2.
"This license agreement is part of a more global project to develop own brands within Snowleader", announces Thomas Rouault.
To strengthen its offer, the leader plans to sign other licensing or distribution agreements or to take stakes in existing brands.
Snowleader (The Reblochon Company), which has experienced exponential double-digit growth (between 20 and 30%) for several years, has a turnover of 55 million euros , up 22% compared to 2021 and employs 180 people .
This article was originally published by Groupe Ecomedia.