From alpine trails to city streets, Salomon is there for the long haul

Ask anyone born before the 1990s about Salomon, and he or she will probably think of skiing. Founded in the French Alps, the brand became a pioneer in winter sports equipment, starting with the first ski binding toe box in the 1950s, followed by the SX90 and SNS Nordic ski boots. In just a few years, Salomon had established itself as a reference in alpine performance.

Today, less than 10% of sales come from skiing. The brand is now better known for trail running, hiking and increasingly urban clothing. The XT-6 shoe has become one of Salomon’s emblematic products; it is worn by people walking through city streets as well as by people running along mountain trails. Leading this evolution is Scott Mellin, who took over as Chief Brand Officer in 2023 with a clear mission: to transform and grow Salomon’s global influence, without losing sight of its roots.

“Invented in the mountains, reinvented in Paris”

Since developing from his skiing heritage, Salomon has anchored himself in trail running. The focus remains developing the best solutions for athletes, guided by innovation and performance. Yet the XT-6, XT-4 and XT Whisper – all designed for trail runners more than a decade ago – have now also become the footwear of choice for city dwellers, celebrities and designers.

Mellin explains how it all started: “Someone from the Broken Arm [a concept store based in Paris] called me and said, ‘All these kids in Paris are wearing their dad’s old XT-6s. It’s becoming a fashion trend, and I thought if you copy them, we’ll bring them to the store,” and that’s how it started.” The brand saw an opportunity and adapted, without changing course or jeopardizing its raison d’être.

“This was not Salomon turning fashion into a strategy. It was children adopting our styles for urban culture,” he says, emphasizing a spontaneous integration into the fashion world. “That’s basically been the formula since then: We take historic styles that were built for UTMB [Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc, a mountain ultramarathon race] or trail running races around the world and we revisit them. We don’t change the technology. We don’t change anything. They are still trail running shoes that have been slightly adapted for the culture.”

Given the size of the lifestyle market, the temptation to focus more consciously on fashion would be understandable. “The running shoe industry is worth $27 billion worldwide, while the fashion shoe market is over $100 billion, so it’s very easy for a brand to go for a larger addressable market,” Mellin explains. Many competitors have done this over the years, often losing sight of their heritage and damaging their reputation.

Instead, Mellin’s focus is on authenticity. Since its arrival, the company has embraced its lifestyle appeal, creating a structural divide between performance and sporty style, without one side ever dominating the other. “Our brand strategy is always 50/50: we fund our performance and sports style marketing equally. The frequency of communication is the same, so we don’t become asymmetrical to one side of the business or the other,” he tells us. This balance has strengthened brand value in two very different worlds, but perhaps not so different.

When performance meets culture: creating shoes for hybrid lifestyles

By embracing this evolution, Salomon realized that customers do not fit into one box. Avid hikers can spend as much time climbing mountains as exploring art galleries, just as people who choose city life can also enjoy the outdoors. The hybrid nature of today’s consumer was actually a white space that Mellin and his team identified and decided to address, resulting in Salomon’s first gravel shoe. “We saw an opportunity for white space between road and trail, namely to bring individuals from an urban environment into nature, but not necessarily on a sharp ridge,” says Mellin. The idea was to design a shoe that resonated with people who wanted to get out into nature in an accessible, less technical way.

Cristelle Robert, senior director of performance soft goods, reiterates the opportunity they identified: “We needed a solution for the city and gravel became our gateway because it is hybrid and diverse and meets the needs of the consumer who is looking for something unique that matches how diverse their lifestyle is.”

Creating the gravel shoe didn’t just fill a gap in the market: it brought a new dimension to the company. “I looked at this commercial opportunity through the lens of gravel, but I also looked at gravel as a cultural reawakening of Solomon, and it worked extremely well,” Mellin admits. Through this approach, Salomon has reinvigorated the values ​​of innovation and courage on which the brand was founded. It elevated its commitment to sportsmanship and the outdoors into a cultural movement, both internally and externally. Employees became united by a sense of purpose and culture, enabled by a clear vision, something many brands fail to define or lose over time.

At the same time, Salomon embraced the cultural shift that made running a social connector. The trend has accelerated over the past five years, with what was once an individual sport becoming a collective experience. Strava-de $2 billion fitness app has become a social network – connect now 135 million runners and walkers, with running clubs representing almost 40% of global groups. Cafes and brands are launching their own running clubs to promote engagement, with members going for a run and a coffee together, while adopting the runner’s aesthetic as part of city life. In this context, athletic shoes found themselves at the center of new locations, increasingly blurring the lines between running and culture.

The Salomon customer embodies this duality. “The overlap between our performance and sports style consumer profile is 76%,” says Mellin, emphasizing how well Salomon responds to different needs and occasions. “We understand that the consumer is fluid. And they will go back and forth depending on what they need at that moment, whether it’s sports or going to a fancy dinner.” In response, Salomon designs shoes for both forest climbing and urban occasions with the same focus on comfort and technical details, a balance that could explain the brand’s continued success.

“The secret sauce of Salomon is that we have always maintained our authenticity. In a branded world, authenticity is the most important thing for me to protect, and that is why I make sure we always put performance at the beginning of everything we create.”

The way forward

When asked how Salomon deals with constant growth and competition, Mellin’s answer is clear: consistency. The brand’s positioning, product line and visual expression remain the same across all regions. Depending on the location, certain stores lean more towards performance or sports style, but the overall universe is consistent.

“You have to maintain consistency: in combination with strong brand discipline, you create a lasting impact,” confirms Mellin. So far this strategy is working. Last year, Salomon reached $1 billion in sales – still a small share of the $180 billion global footwear market, but a clear sign of momentum and room to grow. The brand continues to expand significantly in Asia, opening new stores worldwide and launching collaborations with designers such as MM6 Maison Margiela, while pursuing innovation with new shoes expected in 2026.

Despite all this, sportiness remains the driving force of the brand. Next year, Salomon will serve as a premium sponsor of the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Games, providing outfits for all volunteers. The partnership nods to its Alpine origins and reaffirms the values ​​that have defined the brand since its inception: sports performance, family spirit and authenticity.

As Salomon looks ahead, the challenge will not be to reinvent itself, but to maintain this level of consistency across the worlds it now inhabits, from mountain tops to city streets. For Scott Mellin, the ambition is clear: to secure this commitment to excellence while becoming a top five footwear brand.

“I hope that in twenty years’ time people will consider Salomon their favorite shoe brand.” A wish that may not be so far away.