The story
Lafuma was established in 1930 by brothers Victor, Alfred, and Gabriel Lafuma in Anneyron, Drôme, initially producing backpacks. In 1936, the company introduced a metal-frame backpack, significantly expanding its market. During World War II, Lafuma supplied equipment to the French Army and, under German occupation, to the Wehrmacht. Post-war, it resumed civilian production and diversified into camping furniture in 1954.
Facing bankruptcy in 1984, Lafuma was restructured under Philippe Joffard, a grandson of the founders. The company began producing sleeping bags in 1985 and relocated some manufacturing to Tunisia in 1986 and Hungary in 1992. In 1995, Lafuma acquired the Millet and Le Chameau brands, though Le Chameau was sold to Marwyn Management Partners in 2012.
Lafuma went public on the CAC Small market in 1997, reducing the founding family’s stake to approximately 15%. In 2004, it acquired the jeans brand Ober, and in 2005, it purchased Oxbow. In 2013, the Swiss Calida Group acquired Lafuma, integrating it into its portfolio of outdoor and apparel brands. By 2017, Lafuma sold Oxbow to focus on its core outdoor brands. In 2020, Lafuma further sold the Eider trademark to its South Korean distributor K2, South Korea having been the core market of Eider.
From Wikipedia’s article on Lafuma, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.5