Salewa partners with Michelin for spring 2016

By

Bruno Joly

Published
Jul 24, 2015

How to be different in the outdoor footwear segment, given Vibram's dominance in soles? Salewa has decided to join forces with Michelin to complete its range, or rather, the two specialists have worked together on two footwear models from the Alpine Speed line. The models were presented last week at the Friedrichshafen OutDoor show.

"We are featuring these models first of all for hiking, our chief segment," comments Tobias Roth, in charge of Salewa's footwear sales and marketing.  

According to JV International, which takes care of sole development for Michelin, this is the first outdoor application in Europe. The tyre giant is already featured in other sports, such as badminton, and signed an agreement at the beginning of the year with Under Armour for the US market.

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"We do not offer a catalogue of novelties, as our competitors do. We work together with our partner from the project's inception, and we develop together according to the requirements," comments Andrea de Pascale who, after spending 25 years with Gore-Tex, joined JV International a year ago to develop marketing and partnerships.  

Michelin insists that the language of tyres is after all the same as that of shoes: grip, grip, grip...