Lafuma is a French company that specializes in outdoor equipment and clothing, such as

backpacks A backpack—also called knapsack, schoolbag, rucksack, rucksac, pack, sackpack, booksack, bookbag or backsack—is, in its simplest frameless form, a fabric sack carried on one's back and secured with two straps that go over the shoulders ...

sleeping bags A sleeping bag is an insulated covering for a person, essentially a lightweight quilt that can be closed with a zipper or similar means to form a tube, which functions as lightweight, portable bedding in situations where a person is sleeping o ...

and footwear. It also offers a wide variety of other equipment, earning comparisons to United States companies such as

Patagonia Patagonia () refers to a geographical region that encompasses the southern end of South America, governed by Argentina and Chile. The region comprises the southern section of the Andes Mountains with lakes, fjords, temperate rainforests, and gl ...

and

Columbia Sportswear The Columbia Sportswear Company is an American company that manufactures and distributes outerwear, sportswear, and footwear, as well as headgear, camping equipment, ski apparel, and outerwear accessories. It was founded in 1938 by Paul Lam ...

. Group brands include

Eider Eiders () are large seaducks in the genus ''Somateria''. The three extant species all breed in the cooler latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere. The down feathers of eider ducks, and some other ducks and geese, are used to fill pillows and quilt ...

Millet Millets () are a highly varied group of small-seeded grasses, widely grown around the world as cereal crops or grains for fodder and human food. Most species generally referred to as millets belong to the tribe Paniceae, but some millets al ...

and

Oxbow __NOTOC__ An oxbow is a U-shaped metal pole (or larger wooden frame) that fits the underside and the sides of the neck of an ox or wikt:bullock, bullock. A bow pin holds it in place. The term "oxbow lake, oxbow" is widely used to refer to a U-sh ...

. The Lafuma clothing brands have been personified by sports personalities and by the French actor and stuntman

Karl E. Landler Karl E. Landler is a French actor, filmmaker who stars in French and American TV shows and films. He joined the international cast of the Sci-Fi TV series Métal Hurlant Chronicles. He is the face of numerous worldwide campaigns such as Shiseido ...

History

The three Lafuma brothers – Victor, Alfred and Gabriel – founded Lafuma in 1930 producing backpacks. In 1936, the company invented the metal-frame braced backpack, which expanded the group considerably. Having produced products for both the

French Army The French Army, officially known as the Land Army (french: Armée de Terre, ), is the land-based and largest component of the French Armed Forces. It is responsible to the Government of France, along with the other components of the Armed For ...

before

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

and during the

occupation of France The Military Administration in France (german: Militärverwaltung in Frankreich; french: Occupation de la France par l'Allemagne) was an interim occupation authority established by Nazi Germany during World War II to administer the occupied zo ...

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

for the

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmacht''" replaced the previous ...

, the company resumed production post-war. In 1954, Lafuma expanded into camping furniture. In 1984, the company went bankrupt, and was taken over by a grandson of the founders, Philippe Joffard. In 1985, the company expanded into sleeping bags and, in 1986, moved part of its production to

Tunisia ) , image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa , image_map2 = , capital = Tunis , largest_city = capital , ...

. In 1991, the company launched new clothing brands and, in 1992, opened production facilities in

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...

. This allowed the resumption of the production of the Millet and Le Chameau brands in 1995. The company was launched on the

CAC Small The CAC Small (formerly the CAC Small 90) is a stock market index used by the Paris Bourse. It is a small-cap index which represents all main-market French equities not included in the CAC 40, the CAC Next 20 or the CAC Mid 60. Together, these 4 in ...

second market in 1997, reducing the founding families' share to around a 15% share holding. Philippe Joffard remains chairman. In 2004, the company purchased the jeans brand Ober and, in 2005, Oxbow. In 2006, the company began co-branding winter clothing with

Thierry Mugler Manfred Thierry Mugler (; 21 December 1948 – 23 January 2022) was a French fashion designer, creative director and creative adviser of Mugler. In the 1970s, Mugler launched his eponymous fashion house; and quickly rose to prominence in the fo ...

. After a difficult year in 2007, Lafuma resumed production of the Eider brand, but by moving production from

Éloise Éloise (; frp, Élouéze) is a Communes of France, commune in the Haute-Savoie Departments of France, department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Regions of France, region in south-eastern France. See also *Communes of the Haute-Savoie department ...

to overseas facilities. In 2012, Le Chameau was sold to Marwyn Management Partners, a UK-based private equity company.

Current

The group is still highly reliant on the domestic French market, with 60% of group turnover generated from French sales. The current brands of the group include (with reported sales percentages): *Lafuma (44.1%) * Oxbow Surfwear (28.2%) *

(16.3%) Detailed figures for the licensing of the Killy trademark are not published. Turnover by product is broken down as: *Clothing (62.5%) *Accessories and equipment (12%) including: backpacks, sleeping bags, blankets, billfolds, mountaineering ropes, strollers *Shoes and boots (13.1%) *Camping furniture (12.4%) including: folding chairs, chairs, tables The group has eight production sites, in: France (4), Hungary (1), Tunisia (1),

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...

(1) and China (1).

References

External links

Lafuma's official website
in English
Lafuma's official website
in French {{Authority control Clothing companies established in 1930 Manufacturing companies based in Paris Companies based in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Mountaineering equipment manufacturers Manufacturing companies established in 1930 French companies established in 1930 French brands