Rossignol Snowboards 2024/25 Preview
Retail Buyers Guide: Snowboards FW24/25 Retail Buyer’s Guide
Brand: Rossignol
Interviewee: ARNAUD REPA / SNB CATEGORY MGMT
What trends or developments are you seeing with regards to board construction, shapes, and general innovation? How is this shaping your 24/25 range?
Innovation will come from manufacturing processing, organizational behavior and renewable feedstocks as much as from board construction and shapes with the urge to reduce our carbon footprint and control pricing.
From an industry standpoint, anticipated product availability, therefore development, and rationalized production, ie. managing raw material and scrap inventories to optimize stock monetization and profitability, are growing with manufacturing concentration.
The need for flexibility, from capacity to country of origin, and low environmental impact with the rise of the mass balance approach will accelerate the use of renewable feedstocks in chemical processes.
From a shape and construction standpoint, the possibilities are endless and creativity is the only limit. Splitboarding is probably the category with the biggest room for development though.
Anything new concerning sustainability and related product or construction you would like to highlight?
We have transitioned 98% of our woodcores to FSC origin. 85% of our snowboards’ artworks are either DDPied or sublimated, i.e. no use of aluminum frames, silk screens and water for cleansing.
Any new design or pattern approaches in your 24/25 gear? Any collabs on the line?
We are proud to work with Brooklyn surreal artist Graham Yarrington (https://grahamyarrington.bigcartel.com/) on the Retox.
Are you planning to focus on a special product range or type of customers? What’s your newest range?
We commit to the mountains and have built products to help people access them in the easiest and most rewarding way since 1987. Everyone can ride our products and we will continue to make sure they get the most out of them.
We, to this extend, have redesigned our whole True Twin collection over the last 3 seasons and are wrapping things up this year with the new Ampage, UltraViolet, Alias, Scan and rental series.Bringing fresh shapes on our kids, junior, beginner and advanced lines, both at retail and rental grounds.
Going deeper into our freestyle lineage story with a blunted tip progression that provides more surface to float, press and butter while increasing stability.
Connecting our true twin models with one visual tie.
And adding smaller sizes to extend consumer reach.
What is your top product marketing story for next season?
Xavier De Le Rue’s new signature All-mountain Freeride model XV Slashimi. Featuring our award winning L.I.T.E. Grip core, AmpTek Elite camber profile and on-demand sidecut radius adjustment RadCut. Designed like a twin freeride board, it is narrower, thus lighter, than Xavier De Le Rue’s signature Sashimi, while having more tail, shorter sidecut radiuses, the same camber and a smaller pintail.
Making it perfectly fit for the intermediate to expert all-mountain rider looking for a loose, playful twin-like feeling in the powder and a highly reliable board for full send mode, carving on packed snow, traversing on ice or simply cruising around. As Xavier De Le Rue puts it: “It’s the perfect everyday board with a huge freeride capacity.”
The Revenant, returns with a vengeance. Featuring a 90% camber pocket to deliver more pop and next-generation all-mountain freestyle performance. Combining RadCut sidecut technology, Serrated Edges and Twin All-Mountain core profile, the board is steadfast in all conditions, provides more precision on traverse and carving on groomed snow, while ensuring more grip on hardpack and improved shock absorption on landings that its predecessor.
Best Sellers/Hero/Key product.
XV Slashimi
3 times FWT winner Xavier De Le Rue’s new signature model brings fun to seriousness. The XV Slashimi not only floats perfectly and is very nimble in any given terrain, it is also easier to ride on the edge than XV’s previous pro-models, while having more grip on tail. It is the perfect everyday board with a huge freeride capacity.
Revenant
The Revenant is back with a 90% camber pocket to deliver more pop and next-generation all-mountain freestyle performance. Combined with RadCut sidecut technology, Serrated Edges and Twin All-Mountain core profile, the board is steadfast in all conditions, provides more precision on traverse and carving on groomed snow, while ensuring more grip on hardpack and improved shock absorption on landings.
Ampage
The best freestyle boards to learn and progress on, the Ampage offers easy, budget-friendly fun for entry-level riders. The softer, twin freestyle flex provides an easy-to manipulate ride no matter which direction you slide. And with a mix of a generous AmpTek rocker profile and blunted tips, the Ampage offers confidence-boosting stability and an effortless, catch-free feel.