By David Clucas
Atreebutes, a Swiss outdoor lifestyle brand founded in 2008, will make its North American debut to retailers this winter trade-show season thanks to a partnership with brand-strategy agency The Mountain Project.
Scott McGuire, president of The Mountain Lab, will act as Atreebutes’ master agent in North America, inclusive inclusive of sales and marketing, but the product will remain owned and distributed by Atreebutes.
“It’s a bit of a unique model and allows small brands to come into the United States while retaining all the control of their brand” McGuire told SportsOneSource. “So, instead of selling their goods at a discount to a distributor, we partner with them to create a regional office and help them scale on their own terms.”
Atreebutes Centovalli Hoodie
McGuire said Atreebutes’ product is currently available for tests, with the formal U.S. launch set for Fall/Winter 2016. The brand will be at Outdoor Retailer Winter Market 2016, exhibiting in the Venture Out section, which The Mountain Lab helped develop to showcase the rise in urban outdoor lifestyle brands.
Atreebutes Founder Fredi Kalbermatten said the brand prides itself on balancing aesthetic with personal values. As he learned more about sourcing and supply chain, the more he saw opportunity for improvement.
“To truly understand their business, Fredi embarked on a multi-stop train tour of their new process, from cotton field to ginner to mill to factory,” McGuire said.
Nicole Kalbermatten, Atreebutes CEO, said the company has partnered with Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS) and Made in a Free World “to ensure protection and support for the workers that help bring Atreebutes to life.”
McGuire said Fredi and Nicole Kalbermatten’s commitment to sustainability is ever present.
“That pursuit is not just simply an organic label on a fabric sourced through a random factory,” McGuire said, “but a commitment to understanding and holding ownership of supply chain from field to factory.”
For more information on the brands, North American retailers can contact McGuire at atreebutes@themountainlab.com
