Salewa celebrates 90th with fleece revival - sportstextiles: Lea SportsTextiles

News

Salewa celebrates 90th with fleece revival

13/08/2025
Salewa celebrates 90th with fleece revival
Outdoor brand Salewa was founded in Munich in 1935 by Josef Liebhart and was initially a maker of saddles and leather goods. The brand’s name derives from the first two letters of the company’s key activities: SAttel (saddlery) and LEder WAren (leathergoods). Since then, it pivoted to mountain equipment, making a mark in that sector with the introduction of adjustable twelve-point crampons and tubular ice screws. 

The brand expanded into apparel in the mid 1980s, thanks to Heiner Oberrauch, who is now president of the Oberalp Group, Salewa’s owner. At the time, he and his brother had a sports store in Bolzano and imported Salewa equipment into the South Tyrol region. Mr Oberrauch spotted the potential of fleece in mountain wear and created the first fleece apparel under the Salewa brand. This new diversification was a huge success. It enabled Mr Oberrauch to acquire the Salewa brand in 1990 and move its headquarters to Bolzano, in the Dolomites region. The Oberalp Group has since acquired or launched five other mountain sports brands. 

Salewa’s 90th anniversary collection, launched this month, centres on the Eagle Anniversary Fleece jacket that is available in two versions, with a full or a half zip. The fleece fabric is made from 100% recycled polyester, a nod to today’s standards, but it retains its original lightweight warmth, quick drying and odour-resistance properties. 

Photo courtesy of Salewa

Related stories:

New team at Oberalp 26/03/2025
Dynafit inaugurates new headquarters 23/09/2024
Salewa range uses Polartec’s greener technologies 02/06/2020
Oberalp snaps up California climbing shoe brand 20/06/2019
Oberalp to distribute X-Bionic products in Italy 09/05/2018

Sportstextiles.com cannot be held responsible for content if the language setting is changed from English.

The translations provided by Google Translate are automated and therefore might not be accurate and may contain incorrect, offensive or misleading language. We offer this facility as a guide only.