Salewa celebrates 90 years of passion for the mountains and innovation
As the passion for the outdoors grows worldwide, the projects of the Oberalp Group's most important brand focus on sustainable materials, international expansion and shops designed as hubs for its community
If in the past it was poles that helped summit climbers, in the future it will be exoskeletons. From a technological point of view, the long history of mountain equipment is one of the most exciting, and it also makes the history of the companies that produce it interesting. One of these is Oberalp, a group founded in Bolzano in 1981 by Heiner Oberrauch to distribute the high quality sports clothing and equipment of the Salewa brand in the Italian market.
Founded in Munich in 1935 by a cooperative of craftsmen (the name is an acronym for SAttler und LEder Ware, a cooperative of saddlers who produce leather goods), it was then taken over by Oberrauch in 1990, who started from it to build his group, today one of the leaders in the outdoor sector and which in Salewa has the main of its six brands, including Dynafit and LaMunt, the source of almost half of its €284 million 2024 revenue. And which after 90 years is still evolving: 'It has a long history, but it is also a very contemporary brand,' explains Manuele Cola, product director of Salewa, from the futuristic Oberalp headquarter in Bolzano. We are also responding well to what has been the most recent, major change in the way of experiencing the mountains, less performance-oriented and more wellness-oriented in a broad sense, which has taken shape especially after the pandemic. In general, there is a greater desire for the mountains, and with technological developments, such as the exoskeleton with which to do assisted walks, the peaks will be an increasingly democratic destination and experience'.
To respond to this evolution in consumption, one of many addressed in its 90 years, Salewa is in turn evolving: "Many brands that are not native outdoorsmen are turning to the mountains," says Cola, "and vice versa, we are looking to them to offer a more lifestyle proposition and also enter new distribution channels, but without forgetting who we are, a technical brand that offers a very high level of performance.
This strategy also involves design and materials, starting with the use of Tyrol Wool, wool produced in the Alps, and hemp, fibres that also contribute to Oberalp's ambitious goal of becoming a zero-emission company by 2050: "We are investing heavily, and will increasingly do so, in the circularity of our products, offering repair services but also using the most durable materials possible, which are derived from recycling and can be easily recycled at the end of their life," adds Cola. In order to do this more effectively, Oberalp is also investing in its supply chain: it will probably expand its network of factories, which today consists of the Montebelluna shoe factory and the Droker shoe factory in Romania, which will be taken over in 2022. The retail network will also grow: 'Today 80% of revenues come from wholesale, our goal is to balance the two channels,' continues the manager, 'also to use our sales outlets as points of contact and involvement for our community. We still have wide margins for growth in Europe, which remains our first market, but we are also looking with great interest at the United States and in Asia we are developing the Korean and Japanese markets'.
