Why Salomon Americas President Steve Doolan Left Hoka for Another Hot Brand + How Fashion May Accept the Outdoors in 2025
When it comes to Salomon, there was plenty to talk about in 2024. And if the brand’s presence at The Running Event (TRE) last week is any indication, consumers and insiders alike will have a lot more to discuss in 2025.
The outdoor brand was on fire in 2024, specifically racking up wins with fashion-focused footwear consumers. Specifically, the brand’s collaborations with the likes of Sandy Liang, MM6 Maison Margiela and Aries, as well as influential retailers Sneakersnstuff and Nordstrom, had people hitting the streets in looks that were made for technical terrain.
What’s more, to capitalize on the momentum among the style-savvy that it has stateside, Salomon opened its first U.S. Sportstyle concept store in New York City in October.
The company has also recently made major leadership changes. This month, Amer Sports — the brand’s parent company — announced it had elevated Guillaume Meyzenq to the role of president and chief executive officer of Salomon. Meyzenq, a 28-year veteran of Salomon, will replace Franco Fogliato, who stepped down from the role in April for personal reasons, effective Jan 1, 2025.
And for the past year, Salomon’s business in the Americas has been led by Steve Doolan, an industry veteran who most notably spent nearly seven years at Hoka. Doolan assumed Salomon’s president of the Americas role in October 2023.
During last week’s TRE trade show and conference in Austin, Texas, Doolan sat with FN and offered several insights into Salomon heading into 2025.
What relationship do you have with Guillaume Meyzenq, Salomon’s incoming CEO? And why is he the right person to lead the company?
“He was one of the first people during the interview process. He is an insightful, thoughtful, really curious individual, and those are characteristics that I value in a leader. Ultimately, you’re going to need to help people develop their own thoughts, and you need to understand what is it that they’re trying to do. Those are characters that are incredibly positive. He certainly welcomed me in, of course, over the last year, and he has an understanding of what it is going to take to succeed in the U.S. His understanding, with 28 years at Salomon, the last seven or eight years leading the footwear business, that’s where our growth is going to come from. For me, these are all clear positives. I’m really excited about how we are going to drive footwear globally, and specifically for our team here in the U.S. and across the Americas over the next few years.”
You left one hot brand, Hoka, for another in Salomon. What is the biggest difference between them?
“This [Salomon] is an incredibly complex business. It’s a business that’s 75-years-old and has been driven by innovation. If you look at every category we play in — ski, snowboard, nordic, protectives, apparel, snow, run, a plethora of footwear categories and then packs — it’s been driven by the desire to create things that make the experience better. That is incredibly pure. That, to me, is why the equity and existence of the Salomon name is so real. That is one of the reasons that I came here. If I think about Hoka, if you look at the Bondi and the Clifton, those are 60-plus percent of a $2 billion business. Apparel is, I don’t know, 5 percent? You have a business that is actually much easier to manage, and ultimately, you could make the argument that they’re doing a better job of identifying a need and speaking to it. The flip side, to me, is we are a storied, legacy, heritage outdoor business. Our team and I think about what it is that we want to do over the course of next few years. We know there’s a core group of Salomon users, whether it’s in winter sports or it’s in running, and what we want to do is grow that core.”
What made taking the Salomon job so attractive?
“It wasn’t a singular thing. I think it was a component of having the opportunity to lead the business. I certainly had an important and critical role at Hoka within the Deckers environment, but this was really mine to drive and steer. There are a multitude of lessons that I’ve learned, from demand planning to go to market strategy to how it is that we make sure that our teams are dialed to the supply chain side, that can apply and ultimately really accelerate and drive this business over the course next couple years. There’s certainly a component of the tie back to the winter sports side, which is where I grew up in specialty. I have a deep passion for mountains and winter sports. I would tell you, it was not an easy decision to make or let alone to tell my peers [at Hoka] and people that I really value, but I’m genuinely excited about the group, the team, the culture that we’re building here.”
What was your relationship like with Salomon before joining the company?
“My dad was skiing in SX92s, a rear entry ski boot from the ’80s. Driver bindings were bindings I skied on through my teens, and there’s a ski called the 1080 that really changed, I think, how skiing was thought of, or was influenced by snowboarding. It really changed this idea of freedom. There’s a series of connectivities with Salomon that certainly, when I was approached, made the conversation very real.”
Salomon is red-hot in North America, specifically with its Sportstyle footwear, but where does the brand need to improve the most?
“The reason people feel strongly about Salomon that know the brand is how product-driven, innovation-driven it has been. We certainly never want to do anything to put that at risk. But I think where we will succeed is by really identifying those winners, those key items that are critical, that are going to resonate with consumer earlier and do a really good job of building a clear go-to-market strategy.”
How will outdoor-inspired fashion play out in 2025?
“I think it would never go away. If I reflect back in my life and think about my dad, the guy wore a suit to work every single day, but the second he got home, literally every single day from work, he went for a run. I think he would have been much happier not to wear a suit and be wearing things that were more reflective of the passions that he had in being outside. The world we live in today, there’s more freedom in terms of what you wear. There are very few places where you wear a suit into work. If I just extrapolate that, why would outdoor-inspired fashion go away? I think the question in my mind is what does outdoor fashion become? How does it evolve? There still is a functionality component. If we think about Gore-Tex, there’s a functional benefit to how Gore-Tex operates, there’s a breathability and waterproofing that is advantageous, that people are probably going to want to have those same characteristics. And I think there’s a styling element as well.”
What story is Salomon looking to tell in North America with its spring and fall 2025 ranges?
“There’s two stories that are completely intertwined. I would describe Salomon as a running brand. The secondary piece is it is absolutely true that the trail is where we came from, and we’ve dabbled in road over the years. We have made a very clear push, taking the learnings that we have from some of these super shoes, and bringing them in packages that are much more commercial and have a much broader appeal. So that would be the first piece. The second is we also recognize there are more surfaces than a pure technical trail in the Alps and a road, so we take those same road midsoles in our Aero Glide 3 and Aero Blaze 3, and we do a gravel version of each of those — slightly more durable upper with a toe cap and then a very minimal lug through the outside. You can go from concrete to pavement to gravel trail. We’re pushing into road with a new silhouette and then a gravel version of that as we drive into ’25 and ultimately beyond.”
About the Author
Peter Verry is the Senior News and Features Editor for Athletic and Outdoor at Footwear News. He oversees coverage of the two fast-paced and ultracompetitive markets, which includes conducting in-depth interviews with industry leaders and writing stories on sneakers and outdoor shoes. He is a lifelong sneaker addict (and shares his newest purchases via @peterverry on Instagram) and spends most of his free time on a trail. He holds an M.A. in journalism from Hofstra University and can be reached at peter.verry@footwearnews.com.