EXECUTIVE CHANGES
+++ 2XU (Melbourne, Australia) has appointed former HydraPak and Under Armour executive Aaron Brown as Head of Wholesale & Business Development, North America, to lead wholesale growth and expand the performance brand’s commercial presence across the US and Canada
+++ Oberpollinger (Munich, Germany) has appointed George Philip Auerbach, previously Retail Director Germany & Austria at Van Cleef & Arpels, as GM with immediate effect, succeeding Andreas Römer, who is leaving after four years, with Auerbach taking charge of the luxury department store whose assortment includes a dedicated Urban Sports offering and outdoor brands such as Mammut +++
LEGAL & INSTITUTIONAL
+++ Austrian investor René Benko has been sentenced to two and a half years in prison by the Innsbruck Regional Court in a partially retried case over harming creditors through a €360,000 advance rent payment made as his Signa property and retail empire neared insolvency +++
RETAIL & DISTRIBUTION
+++ Hunter (UK) has entered the Thai market with its first flagship store at Bangkok’s ICONSIAM, operated by local partner Minor Lifestyle and offering footwear, apparel, bags and accessories +++
CSR & SUSTAINABILITY
+++ The Climate Pledge Fashion Coalition, co-founded by Amazon, Stella McCartney, Canopy and The Climate Pledge with support from the World Economic Forum, brings together more than 60 companies and organizations, including Brooks Running, to accelerate the commercial adoption of lower-impact materials, manufacturing technologies and supply chains through pooled demand, new financing models and shared tools +++
PRODUCT & MARKETING
+++ Kästle (Hohenems, Austria) has signed on as Presenting Sponsor of the American Birkebeiner Ski Foundation’s Open Track cross-country ski tour for the next two years, beginning with the 2027 event on Feb. 24 in Wisconsin
+++ Van Deer-Red Bull Sports (Austria) founder Marcel Hirscher has returned to skiing after an eight-month break following his knee injury, beginning on-snow training at indoor ski facilities in Zoetermeer, the Netherlands, and Wittenburg, Germany, while emphasizing that his comeback remains focused on recovery and training rather than a race schedule
+++ POC (Sweden) and ski racer Marco Odermatt have launched an expanded signature collection featuring his black-and-gold lion design across six new pieces, including race and all-mountain helmets, goggles, sunglasses and accessories for adults and junior skiers
+++ Dryout (Utah) has entered the defense market through its first brand partnership with Blue Force Gear (BFG), integrating its reusable moisture-removal technology into an insert for BFG’s night-vision-goggle pouch to help protect sensitive optics and electronics from moisture +++
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