Investment firm Mirabaud buys stake in French skiwear label Fusalp

As CEO Alexandre Fauvet told FashionNetwork.com at the start of the year, French premium skiwear and lifestyle label Fusalp is on the upswing. After a tough fiscal 2020-21, the label is set to double sales to more than €40 million for the year ending on May 31, and turn a profit again. Building on this strong performance, and on the new impetus provided by Sophie and Philippe Lacoste and Fauvet himself in 2014, the label has recently carried out a share capital increase, with two funds operated by French investment firm Mirabaud buying a minority stake in it.

The funds in question are Mirabaud Patrimoine Vivant and Mirabaud Lifestyle Impact & Innovation, run by David Wertheimer and Renaud Dutreil. The amount the funds invested for the minority interest in Fusalp was not disclosed.

“Our investment in Fusalp, the latest in a series of investments in companies that embody French industrial know-how and art of living (like the Alain Ducasse group, Clergerie, Heschung, Le Coq Sportif, Anne Fontaine and Mauboussin), is designed to support the remarkable growth of the brand successfully revived by Sophie and Philippe Lacoste,” said former government minister Dutreil in a press release. “Fusalp means style, a label that is able to blend technical performance with elegance. Loyal to its Alpine heritage while also strongly committed to innovation, [Fusalp], with its first-rate management team, can look forward to a bright future. We are very pleased to share Fusalp’s quest alongside passionate entrepreneurs who have style, sport and France in their genes,” he added.

Sophie and Philippe Lacoste, joint presidents, and Fauvet, remain as majority shareholders, as Fusalp has confirmed to FashionNetwork.com. In 2018, they had already carried out a first funding round, after which several high-profile French investors opted to back Fusalp (among them Guillaume Houzé, Frédéric Biousse and Nathalie Sayer). The trio then owned an 84% stake in the company.

According to Fusalp, the new share capital increase is designed to support the label's international expansion plans (exports currently account for half of its revenue), enabling Fusalp to boost its visibility in the sport-chic segment where, despite strong competition, it has found its slot, thanks to the collections designed by Creative Director Mathilde Lacoste.

In the coming months, Fusalp will open stores in New York and in the upmarket US ski resort of Aspen. The label currently operates 48 monobrand stores, and expects to grow the number to 55 in the near future. Fusalp will also deploy a store enlargement plan, increasing average retail area from 75 to 200 m2, a more suitable size for showcasing its full product range. In 2022, the year that marks its 70th anniversary, Fusalp is reaching a new milestone.