LES DEUX FONT LA PAIRE duits aussi beaux que performants. Entre les techniques et les matériaux utilisés, ils se démarquent vraiment des skis créés par les grands constructeurs. Et puis, une large partie de nos clients étant des personnes qui skient peu, ils finissent par exposer leur paire une grande partie de l’année au bureau ou à la maison ! L’esthétique et la personnalisation de celle-ci prennent alors tout leurs sens. Quel avenir pour chacun de vous ? Ludovic : Rester dans une production à petite échelle et continuer à se faire plaisir. Manu : Tant que nous pouvons conserver cette dimension humaine et que l’engouement pour des produits exclusifs continue à croître, il y a un réel avenir dans le domaine. Avant de conclure, une exclusivité pour COTE ? Manu : La dernière paire que j’ai conçue possède une structure spécifique, de nouvelles fibres (utilisation de la fibre de lin notamment) et une spatule hors du commun. Elle est magnifique ! Skis LaGriffe – www.skislagriffe.com Julien Gaidet Julien Gaidet Julien Gaidet -/First off, tellus about your careers and how you two met. Ludovic : I come from a family of winter sports enthusiasts that gave their name to the Lacroix ski brand. I launched my own brand, Lagriffe, just over a decade ago. Manu and I met in Courchevel a few years ago. Manu : Yes, having been world freeride champion three times, I was able to advise him and give him feedback after testing his products. It must be a godsend to have such a champion at your side ! Ludovic : absolutely ! The big difference with Manu is that he knows how to say what’s good or less good. He knows the product, the materials that are used to make it, and he has a much greater sensitivity than an everyday skier. He’s got a real thing for snow. But your collaboration doesn’t end there ? Manu : No, after spendingeight years at Rossignol, then developing the Bandit series for them, I also wanted to launch my own brand of skis. It’s called Skis by Manu Gaidet and it’s Ludovic who builds them for me ! I also work as an instructor and a mountain guide. That way, we help each other out with our respective networks. We really complement each other. Both of your brands make skis on demand only. Why position yourselves in that market ? Ludovic : mainly because it gives us greater room for manoeuvre and freedom regarding the composition of each pair. We live in a world of global consumption and our customers are after unique and entirely bespoke products. Manu : those people who can afford this exclusive service also like to be in direct contact with the person making their dream pair of skis. So these are real works of art you’re producing ? Ludovic : we make it a point of honour to ensure we build products that are as beautiful as they performwell. They really stand out from the skis made by the big constructors, both in terms of techniques and the materials -/Ski designer Ludovic and triple world freeride champion Manu have both been involved in the world of high-level skiing for many years. Now the pair have got together in Courchevel to pool their talents. The two buddies sat down to chat to COTE as the first snow began to fall. used. And since a large proportion of our customers are people who don’t ski very often, they endup displaying their skis in the home or office for much of the year ! Aesthetics and customization then really mean something. What does the future look like for each of you ? Ludovic : keep doing small scale production and continue to give people pleasure. Manu : as long as we can maintain this human aspect and that the enthusiasm for exclusive products continues to grow, there's a real future in this area. A scoop for COTE before we end ? Manu : the last pair I designed has a specific structure, using new fibres (flax fibres mainly) and an unusual shovel. It’s magnificent ! Skis LaGriffe – www.skislagriffe.com -/teamup www.cotemagazine.com - NOVEMBRE 2013 | 115