The French brand Rossignol announced in August 2024 that it was developing its first-ever trail running shoe, the Vezor. After over a century of making skis, ski boots, and other winter equipment, the brand pivoted to embrace trail running. The move marked an effort to become less dependent on winter sports.
The Vezor Trail Running Shoe officially launched in March 2025, but the brand has more in store. According to Nick Castagnoli, Rossignol’s brand marketing director, the company will charge “full gas” into the trail sector over the next 3 to 5 years.
“We’ve got our sights set on being less dependent on winter and breaking into some of these growth categories where we have license to play,” Castagnoli told GearJunkie. “We want to be around for another 100 years, but as winters continue to get shorter, our dependency on the winter business is just not sustainable.”
That’s also why, in 2018, Rossignol started making mountain bikes. After that came sneakers, packs, and après lifestyle shoes. Now, not only did it launch the Vezor, but it also launched a less-technical training day shoe called the Venosk, along with the Sapa line of running apparel.
But Rossignol reassured its winter base that it hasn’t turned its back on skiing. It’s just adapting to become a year-round brand with more to offer consumers.
GearJunkie connected with Castagnoli to talk about the brand’s new direction, why winter has become so unsustainable, and where Rossignol is headed next.
Rossignol: Becoming a Year-Round Brand
GearJunkie: When did Rossignol first consider expanding into spring and summer products?
Nick Castagnoli: To be clear, Rossignol has diversified beyond winter sports equipment going back decades. In the ’80s and ’90s, we made forays into tennis and in-line skates. In the mid-to-late aughts, we launched Rossignol soft goods under the ownership of Quiksilver.
These weren’t decisions that were driven by the shorter, more unpredictable winters and modern socioeconomic challenges we’re dealing with today. It was a diversification strategy driven by the brand and consumer and business trends of that time.
The same is true now. We know our customers are playing in the mountains and on the trails year-round, whether it’s hiking, trail running, or riding single-track on mountain bikes and e-mountain bikes.
As a 117-year-old legacy brand with mountain performance pumping through our veins, we believe we should be there with them. Of course, there’s also an obvious element of “future-proofing” at play here.
GJ: Has it become harder to be a dedicated ski brand?
NC: There’s no denying the winter-sports market is a more challenging place than it was 20 or 30 years ago. Being able to generate revenue beyond 4 to 6 months of the year (depending on weather) is a no-brainer from a business perspective.
But ultimately, we need to be confident that we have a “license to play” and a clear value proposition to offer our customers. That comes first.
Specifically, what kinds of uncertainties led to the decision to expand beyond ski products?
Again, uncertainty is not the primary driver when we talk about diversification. But we can also acknowledge that winters are getting shorter and more unpredictable each year.
And the ski industry is ultimately a group of snow farmers. When it doesn’t snow or the “crop” comes too late in the season, less people commit to making purchases related to these sports, especially when it comes to winter-sports equipment.
How does Rossignol avoid ‘diluting’ the brand’s core by expanding?
We can understand that sentiment. But for Rossignol, it’s quite the opposite. We’re investing more than ever in our winter-sports product development — the most recent example being the launch of the Vizion ski boot. This is a product that addresses one of the biggest pain points in ski boots through our Step-In Technology, bringing award-winning, slipper-like ease of entry/exit without compromise in performance.
Our new Arcade all-mountain range has been cleaning up at the ski tests, winning “Best of Test” across multiple waist widths for both men and women.
We’ve just launched a new freeride ski, the Sender Free 100, that complements the Sender Free 110, a ski that is quickly gaining icon status as the winningest ski on the Freeride World Tour thanks to current FWT champ Marcus Goguen.
New developments across snowboard, Nordic, and protective categories are all firing as well.
Will there be less emphasis on winter and ski production/product design as a result of this diversification?
We are not slowing down when it comes to leading and innovating in winter sports. In terms of new categories, we’ve also been able to channel our expertise in alpine and Nordic skiing footwear from our factory in Montebelluna, Italy, as well as input from our athletes, into developing our trail-running program.
That has led to accolades from retailers and media for releasing something that’s not just a “me-too” product, but a truly notable collection in what is a freshman category at Rossignol.
And with revenue growth coming in from these new categories and seasons, that will lead to new investment that we can bring into winter sports and categories across the board going forward.
Will Rossignol maintain its identity as a ski brand, or is the goal to become recognized as an all-around outdoor brand?
In reality, it’s both. We’ll absolutely maintain our identity as a brand rooted in skiing. It is our brand DNA and the engine that has driven us forward for over 100 years. But we also build snowboards (since 1987), Nordic equipment, protective gear, mountain bikes, packs and travel bags, technical soft goods and footwear for trail running and hiking, as well as lifestyle apparel.
So we’re positioning Rossignol as a 365 mountain sport and lifestyle brand to not just survive but thrive for another 100 years. That said, as long as there’s skiing, Rossignol will be there for every turn.
Is there anything else about this new expansion that Rossignol wants people to know?
If you like playing outdoors, in the mountains, or on the trails, Rossignol has something that will help get your blood pumping. Innovation may be an overused word in this industry, but Rossignol has proven over a century that we walk the talk when it comes to pioneering new technologies and products.
And though some of our recent collections are newer categories for this brand, the same sense of leadership is being applied behind the scenes.
We know that the product has to speak to align with our brand ethos. So we encourage people to check out what we’re doing in these new areas to see how that’s the case.
Vezor Trail Running Shoe: Flagship Footwear
The team at Rossignol took over 2 years to design the Vezor, its new flagship trail running shoe. Castagnoli said the brand brought in some heavy hitters to help it come out of the trail running gate strong. It consulted design firms, hired new in-house talent with experience in the space, and rallied its army of global field testers to help them dial the design.
According to Rossignol, the result is a trail shoe that’s equal parts comfortable, nimble, and grippy.
The upper has breathable air mesh, an anti-mud filter, an internal wrapping textile cage, and TPU protections. A Diazapon+ insert is sandwiched between Rossignol’s two-part, nitrogen-injected “N+ FOAM” and standard EVA foam midsole to help improve cushion, stability, and energy return.
The Vezor has two Removable Adaptive Insoles. Castagnoli points out that removing or adding these allows people to adjust the fit of the shoe.
Rossignol also used Michelin Formula rubber with 4mm lugs in the outsole. It claims every single lug was intentionally placed to improve grip on variable terrain.
Guilhem Boussaroque, Rossignol’s product line manager, said in a press release that this shoe is ideal for medium distances, whether athletes are training or racing. In fact, Castagnoli said the racing community has been very receptive to the Vezor so far.
“We’ve been showing up at some trail running events,” he said. “And almost 70% of people who are trying on the shoe are actually going out and racing in it during that event.”
The Vezor and the Venosk are both available on the Rossignol website in two colors for men and women. There, you can check out the Sapa line of trail running apparel, and all of Rossignol’s other gear and soft goods for winter, summer, and everything in between.
