Rossignol targets €100 million in footwear and clothing sales

Medals, snowfall and rising sales: in Rossignol’s Alpine landscape, the winter of 2025/26 delivered plenty of satisfaction. The French company, owned for more than 12 years by the Swedish fund Altor Equity Partners, reported revenue of €346 million in fiscal 2025, for the financial year ended at March-end. Vincent Wauters, the company’s chief executive, welcomes the rebound after the previous year’s downturn. “We achieved growth of 4.3% at constant exchange rates and over 1% on a reported basis,” he says. “The year was marked by tariff issues with the United States and, as we are highly export-oriented, we were hit by unfavourable exchange rates. But we nevertheless delivered a 50% increase in EBITDA.”

The CEO highlights the impact of snowfall across Europe’s mountain ranges and higher resort visitor numbers, particularly in France, which benefited the group’s various brands including Rossignol, Dynastar, and Lange, Look. These brands also enjoyed strong visibility at the Milan-Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics, where athletes equipped by Rossignol brands won around 50 medals, including 17 golds. More than just a showcase for the group’s skis and products, these results confer technical legitimacy on the entire offer.

“For example, we see that the performances of our German and Austrian athletes have helped generate interest in Rossignol in the German-speaking market,” notes Vincent Wauters. “Among mountain and outdoor brands with a global footprint, we do not advance with the marketing resources some other players have. We have to carve out our place in the market. But when you have unlimited means, you can make mistakes and drift away from actual practice. We have genuine sporting and mountain credibility, as a reference player in skiing, with a presence of more than 50 years in America and Asia. I do not think we should be looking for shortcuts to reach the urban consumer. The crossover use of technical products happens naturally. We must remain authentic. And our authenticity is linked to the mountain as our playground.”

With this in mind, the group saw sales of winter sports equipment rise by 6.5% at constant exchange rates over its last financial year. But the brand is also banking on clothing and seasonal diversification. Rossignol intends to accelerate the development of its summer range, launched last year, which should account for 15% of sales by the end of March 2027. Clothing represented significant volumes in the past, but management has repositioned its offer around performance, developing technical products for winter sports as well as trail running, and updating the cuts and colours of its products to give them a more modern look. This offer accounts for 25% of the group’s sales (35% in the French market) and grew by 4% at constant exchange rates.

The footwear range, developed at the company’s Montebelluna plant in Italy, is one of the pillars of Rossignol’s extended offer. After introducing two models last year, the brand has added a third, tested by French champion Martin Fourcade, called Vercors. Priced at €160, it is designed to support trail runners on long outings. As trail running continues to grow and attract more women, with 5 million participants, Rossignol sees a strong opportunity here, having more than doubled the number of specialist stockists carrying its products to around 150, mainly in its key French market. The brand also plans to be present at the sector’s flagship event, the Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc, this summer.

At the same time, the brand is launching hiking boots. Vincent Wauters smiles as he explains that other developments are underway. In the medium term, he is targeting combined sales of €100 million for footwear and clothing. This offer is being rolled out across the company’s network of around 40 stores worldwide, four of which opened last year.

Nevertheless, as an experienced executive in the sector, the Belgian does not shy away from acknowledging the pressure the geopolitical context is putting on companies. “We are already facing rising transport costs,” he says. “The question is how intense this crisis will be. There will inevitably be impacts on costs that will ripple through the entire value chain. In recent years, we have experienced the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine, and the increase in energy costs, which have since normalised. I believe that, more than growth, the key word in these contexts is resilience. CSR commitments are part of this. Today, at our plant in Spain, solar panels cover 24% of our energy needs. And over the last two years, while working on the desirability of our products and developing our diversification, we have improved our processes, gained in efficiency and built an organisation focused on profitability.”

Against this backdrop, the group has refocused its textile business on performance, retaining a “resort” line that includes quality jumpers for premium ski resorts. Above all, it has almost repaid its state‑guaranteed loans and last year shut down operations at its Sallanches ski production plant in France, redistributing production across its French and Spanish sites. The site is due to be sold in the coming months, bringing in additional funds. This is an organisation optimised to scale up or, if the global context requires, to adopt a defensive stance. That said, the group’s position- profitable, growing and optimised- could encourage its owner to consider a sale. For the time being, no process has been launched.