With ever new inventions, the Kjus brand has created a worldwide reputation for innovation in sports fashion. “No compromise” is Kjus' motto: uncompromisingly tailored to the needs of customers.
In Munich at the end of January: The sporting goods industry meets for the “ISPO” trade fair, the annual rendezvous of innovation. In the middle of the most important fashion hall stands Kjus-CEO Nico Serena at the exhibition stand and explains the “Freelite” jacket to a specialist journalist: Unlike all other ski jackets, it is knitted all around. It is therefore stretchable on all sides, but still insulates against cold, wind and water.
“How did you do this?” , the American journalist is astonished. In his worldview, innovations come from large corporations. The fact that a small company like Kjus is launching an innovation that is making headlines worldwide in the specialist media is in fact not a matter of course. Changing things and trying to do the impossible is in Kjus' DNA.
In 2000, Norwegian Olympic champion Lasse Kjus and Nico's father Didi Serena had asked themselves why there was so little real functional clothing in the skiing sector. Although technical clothing already existed back then, it was usually a bit modest aesthetically. The ski star and the sports entrepreneur decided to change that. Kjus was born as a sports brand.
“We have a reputation in the industry for driving real innovation,” says Nico Serena today. That is why he can work on new products with the developers of the world's best suppliers, even though he can never promise the purchase quantities that large corporations buy.
“Freelite is the ski sweater of the 21st century.”
“Freelite was a real pain in the ass. There weren't even the right machines on the market for what we had set out to do,” remembers Nico Serena. “They had to be rebuilt and adapted for our ideas first.” Then it took experienced manufacturers who could glue the ultra-fine knitwear with membranes in such a way that the jacket still remains stretchy on all sides.
“We did hundreds of tests, stitched and glued prototypes and pre-series and tested them until they were destroyed. After four years, we were finally where we wanted to go.” The result is convincing: The patented Freelite technology was one of the big topics of conversation at last year's ISPO.
“Freelite is the ski sweater of the 21st century,” says Nico Serena. Snow and skiing shape the genetic makeup of Kjus. Co-founder and namesake Lasse Kjus is still a driving force when it comes to making the best sports fashion. “Lasse demands every prototype that he receives for testing to the maximum. He simply wants to be sure that a part that bears his name works flawlessly.”
“Technology is just one side of innovation.”
Skiwear is still Kjus' main store. This is where the company invests the most time and money in new developments. After the first leisure line in 2008, a Kjus golf collection was added in 2013. “Golfers also don't want to make any compromises when it comes to quality and functionality. That suits us.”
Golf and jus go together: No less than 80 of the 100 most important American pro shops now work with Kjus. Selecting the right points of sale is a key aspect for Nico Serena. “You can only touch, feel and experience our products in retail stores.”
However, there is also decisive feedback from specialist retailers: “Because many of their customers are regular customers, partners such as Skiservice can give us important information about how our fashion works for consumers in everyday life,” he underlines.
“Technology is only one side of innovation. Without the focus on customers, we would be heading in the wrong direction. It has never been more important than today to listen to customers.”
This text by Christian Gartmann is in Skiservice Magazine 2018 appeared.
He was commissioned by Corvatsch ski service created.