“Sustainability is a matter of course at Oxbow.”

1. What motivated you to take over the brand?
2. What does "Stoked Planet" mean at Oxbow?
3. The brand is reviving the 1985 and Collector lines. What are the challenges involved?
4. What trends do you see for the outdoor industry in the next ten years?
5. Oxbow is investing in an in-house laboratory and material innovations such as Yulex85™. How do you work with your suppliers?
6. How do you want to win new customers at Oxbow when sustainability is no longer a sufficiently differentiating selling point?
7. How do you work with your brand ambassadors?
8. Why did you choose the B Corp™ certification?
9. How can an international brand like Oxbow produce in France?
10. What are the biggest challenges facing the outdoor industry and what does the future hold for Oxbow?
11. What do the 2024 and possibly 2030 Olympic Games mean for Oxbow?

Founded in 1985,Oxbow is a French surfwear brand known for its colorful, high-quality and functional designs. Since its inception, Oxbow has become a major name in the surf community and has continuously expanded its product range to include clothing and accessories for mountain and water sports. With a strong commitment to sustainability and responsibility, the brand supports numerous events and athletes worldwide.

Emmanuel Debruères, the new CEO of Oxbow, is a passionate sportsman from the Alps who previously worked at Billabong and Dakine. He began his career at Rossignol and Salomon in France and gained experience in the USA before taking over the Oxbow brand together with Jean-Christophe Chetail in 2020.

My main motivation was my passion for snowboarding and surfing. Then there's my admiration for the Oxbow brand, which made me dream in the 90s, and the opportunity to take my professional destiny into my own hands.

Stoked Planet is our program for environmental commitment and protection. It encompasses all the measures and actions we have taken over the past four years and will implement in the future. We are focusing in particular on reducing CO₂ emissions in line with the Paris Agreement and protecting drinking water resources.

Technical products are an essential part of a sports brand's offering. That's why we at Oxbow develop and market a wide range of products for use in the ocean and in the mountains. This includes wetsuits, boardshorts and innovative outdoor clothing that offer athletes the best conditions. The Collector™ collection is a tribute to our product and graphic DNA and contributes to the revival of French textile production, as all products are made in France.

The outdoor industry is growing dynamically as more and more people want to enjoy nature in summer and winter, in the water and in the mountains. COVID has brought the joy of outdoor activities closer to many. Our mission is to use the limited resources of our planet responsibly.

We develop many innovative products, both technically and in terms of ecological responsibility. We achieve this through strong partnerships with our manufacturers, which give us access to the necessary research and development. For example, we have been able to develop Yulex wetsuits and upcycled board shorts made in France.

Sustainability is a matter of course at Oxbow. Our uniqueness lies in offering our customers the products they need for action sports and at the same time conveying the dream of unique experiences in surfing, snowboarding and other sliding sports. We support outdoor fans so that they can experience their passion as intensively as possible.

Our ambassadors embody Oxbow in the mountains and in the water and convey the brand's values of freedom, fun and environmental responsibility. They are indispensable for the further development of our technical products and help us to make strategic decisions in areas such as environmental protection. We document and share their adventures to inspire enthusiasm for new experiences.

The B Corp certification is the most comprehensive recognition of our efforts in the area of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and makes them comprehensible to consumers. It is a strong commitment by the brand to a long-term CSR policy. Nevertheless, it is not an end goal, but just another step on the way to a better world.

It requires a great deal of persuasion and independence from purely financial constraints. For Oxbow, this is a civic, environmentally responsible and historic approach. We make products like the iconic Oxbow sweater with long-standing partners like Société REGAIN™. Local commitment means that too!

The outdoor sports industry has a promising future. It is important to sustain growth, maintain playing surfaces and invest in marketing to evoke the desired emotions in fans. Oxbow shares these challenges, but has the advantage that we can make our own decisions without being subject to extreme financial constraints.

The Olympics is a bigger event that doesn't affect us much. The competition is only a small part of the universe of action sports for Oxbow. The anti-culture of surfing and snowboarding, which is characterized by creativity and freedom, contradicts the conformist image of the Olympic Games.