Summary

Salomon’s inflection point in China was not simply turning trail-running shoes into fashion, but linking “professional credibility, fashion-led reach, and community depth” into a user funnel. China’s core trail-running cohort stayed flat at roughly 100,000 people from a decade ago through 2020–2021; by 2025, the broader relevant cohort had grown roughly 7–8x in under four years, with more than 8M brand-membership users and nearly 1M people who had participated in trail/outdoor activities or purchased related gear. 殷一’s view: “Fashion cycles typically last about three years.” What survives the cycle is the sport itself, the technology, and professional credibility.
Women became Salomon’s unexpected growth valve in China, eventually creating a reverse flywheel that brought more men in. 殷一 recalls that men may have accounted for as much as 80% of the user base before 2020 or 2021; women likely peaked at close to 70% in 2022–2023 and now account for under 60%. That is not because women left, but because the expanding female base began pulling in more men; globally, the split is roughly even. The last is another hidden variable: Asian women’s feet are closer to European men’s, making the original products relatively female-friendly, while Asian men tend to have wider feet and higher insteps. Salomon began redesigning its China-specific lasts in 2023 and completed the adjustment in 2024.
Xiaohongshu built Salomon a “discovery–purchase–repurchase–self-propagation” loop, not just a one-off seeding campaign. After the partnership deepened around 2023, Salomon’s first-month GMV on Xiaohongshu exceeded RMB10M, with repeat purchasers accounting for roughly 25%; the campaign later generated more than 5,000 post-purchase notes and about 200M impressions. “A purchase is the beginning of sharing, not the end of a transaction,” meaning every sale can generate low-cost content assets and the next wave of customer acquisition.
Trail running’s technical barrier is both a drag on growth and a moat Salomon cannot abandon. Entry-level races often start at 26km and may involve 800–1,000m of climbing; Salomon first uses urban trail runs, new-outdoor communities, and elite training camps to move broad outdoor users into semi-professional and professional ranks, while lifting Golden Trail Series prize money to the seven-figure RMB level, versus roughly RMB20K–30K for champions at major races and RMB5K–10K at smaller ones. “It’s not that they can’t do it; they simply don’t understand the sport.” The growth task is to design an accessible path in.
The XT-Whisper “Salomon Girl” case translated product functionality into a lifestyle attitude recognizable to contemporary women. Xiaohongshu found that users were tiring of “stacked rituals” and wanted shoes that could “step into a puddle but also walk into a café,” framing the product around “performative-free ease” and “the wild girl in the city.” Online style content, the Anfu Road store, and a night run with 赵今麦 all broke at once, pushing Salomon to No. 2 on Xiaohongshu’s organic trending list that night.
The Anfu Road store is not a single-store sales operation but infrastructure for circular online-offline traffic. Its three floors—Invite, Reinvent, and Innovate—organize arrival, brand history, and design co-creation; quarterly Pop-ups, designer voting, and partnerships with nearby cafés, wonton shops, and bakeries turn the entire street into a content venue. 殷一 calls the goal “repeat traffic”: when the same user visits Store A and Store B once each, the value of that traffic compounds across touchpoints.
The next phase will be defined by the “China engine,” full-category expansion, and localized R&D, with seeding upgraded from a marketing tactic into an organizational capability. Salomon plans to run a dual engine of French global R&D and China-local R&D, launch China-led apparel in the first quarter of next year, and roll out footwear innovations including midsole foams and upper materials progressively in 2026–2027 before covering snow, road running, hiking, and trail running end to end. 欧迪 defines the mission as “providing a solution for everyone’s desired way of life”—understanding consumers across R&D, color, merchandising, content, and post-purchase sharing, while still finding people who identify with the brand DNA rather than simply pandering to everyone.

Deep dive

1. A Warm Winter Sent a Snow-Gear Brand Looking Beyond Snow—and Betting on Trail Running 20 Years Early

殷一 traces Salomon’s origins to 1947, when the brand made technical snow gear and skis. “Snow is the deepest mark in our DNA.” It was only after a warm winter around 1980 that Salomon began thinking about a second pillar beyond snow.
The transition was not a random leap into a new category. It moved from ski boots into hiking and mountaineering shoes, then invested in trail running at least 20 years ahead of the industry. At the time, races in Chamonix and around Mont Blanc were still deeply niche—“one race might have about 40 participants.”
That professional foundation went beyond supplying products. Salomon provided athletes with equipment, coaches, recovery support, and training plans. 殷一 repeatedly stresses that technology and an understanding of the sporting lifestyle are what earn a brand durable recognition.

2. Sportstyle Was Not a China-Specific Repackaging Exercise but Part of Salomon’s Heritage

The period under adidas left Salomon with its Sportstyle line; around 2016, models including XT-6 and ACS Pro began attracting young consumers as fashion products.
A 2016 collaboration with The Broken Arm entered Paris Fashion Week and the local fashion scene, later extending to Quest, Whisper, and XA Pro 3D. 殷一 puts it bluntly: “We may catch fire with every shoe we launch.”
That history explains how Salomon can speak credibly about both performance and fashion. Fashion was not a shell later placed over trail running; it had already accumulated in the product archive and collaboration system as a second line of development.

3. China’s Trail-Running Market Stayed Flat for a Decade, Then Took Off After 2021

Salomon entered China roughly 12–13 years ago, initially serving professional trail runners and core hiking and outdoor users. China’s core trail-running population was about 100,000 a decade ago and remained close to 100,000 in 2020–2021. “The difference was that the same 100,000 people were 10 years older.”
By 2025, 殷一 observed that the relevant population had grown roughly 7–8x in under four years; brand-membership users exceeded 8M, while those who had participated in trail/outdoor activities or purchased related equipment approached 1M.
His causal read is that Salomon never abandoned its professional line, while using “new outdoor” and the Go野 community to widen the entrance. Fashion may change every three years; a way of exercising has continuity and inheritance. The two serve different functions.

4. Lowering the Entry Barrier Is How Broad Outdoor Users Become Professional Athletes

Distance is trail running’s first obstacle: road races can start at 3km or 5km, while trail races often begin at 26km and may involve 800–1,000m of climbing. Once they hear 50km, 100km, or even 160km, most young people opt out.
殷一’s correction is: “It’s not that they can’t do it; they simply don’t understand the sport.” Salomon therefore starts with urban trail runs, letting users experience the pleasure of the sport before moving them into “first trail race” programs, elite training camps, and formal races.
He describes road running as “2D” between people and sport; the outdoors becomes “3D” once nature enters the picture: “Nature can beat you up, but you can also call it joyful.” The full path is broad-outdoor acquisition, conversion into semi-professional athletes, and eventual progression to professional ranks.
The professional supply side also includes athlete economics. Champions at major trail races used to earn roughly RMB20K–30K, versus RMB5K–10K at smaller events—poor compensation for the injury risk and training demands. Salomon raised Golden Trail Series prize money to the seven-figure RMB level, hoping young athletes can support themselves through the sport and continue developing.

5. The Advantage of Going from Niche to Mass Is Knowing Exactly Who You Are First

欧迪 argues that China’s consumer market now has “supply far greater than demand,” with dense competition from both brands and unbranded sellers in nearly every category. A technical sports brand without a focused origin struggles to win attention or stay memorable.
In sports and outdoor, the specific sport, technical solution, and lifestyle a brand solves for at the beginning matter especially much: “That represents who you are.” A brand can first become a category expert, then use design, supply chain, and technology to enter more scenarios without losing focus.
殷一 does not see “niche to mass” as the only correct path. Niche brands can operate with precision but lack coverage; large brands have reach but may miss the pain points or sweet spot of specialist runners. Both models can work. The key is the solution, the professional team, and execution at the right level of granularity.

6. Anta’s Key Contribution Was a Shift from Group Focus to Single-Brand Focus

After Anta acquired Amer Sports in 2019, the two sides continued to operate independently. 殷一 believes the most important early support came from shared back-office capabilities, supply chain, talent, and management practices.
The operating lens shifted from Amer Sports as a whole to individual brands and their core users. Teams began allocating resources around user touchpoints, preferences, and retention. 殷一 calls the change decisive in moving the entire Amer Sports group forward.
Xiaohongshu offers a similar example. It began with “seven PDFs” and overseas-shopping guides, and once operated a cross-border e-commerce business; its initially female-heavy user base gradually brought in demand across beauty, fashion, maternity and childcare, men’s products, and other lifestyle categories as users’ age, income, marriage, children, and family relationships changed.

7. Xiaohongshu Does Not Manufacture Trends; It Identifies Social Demand and Grows the Scene

欧迪 says camping exploded after the pandemic, and uses cycling to explain how an outdoor lifestyle grows. But he rejects the idea that the platform is good at manufacturing trends: “You can’t manufacture wind.” Something in mass demand or emotion must first be activated and amplified.
The platform’s advantage starts with active expression. A two-column feed requires users to choose content themselves, and publishing a note is also an intentional act. That lets Xiaohongshu capture why people like something and why they do it, rather than merely recording passive clicks.
Its cycling-friendly map is the clearest example. Users complained that there was nowhere to park bicycles, so the community team followed cycling routes in Shanghai and other core cities to find cafés willing to provide bike racks or watch bicycles, then compiled the venues into a map that lowered the barrier to participation.
欧迪 describes a three-way chain: the community grows the lifestyle first, users begin searching for guides and equipment, and brands enter with mature solutions. The platform must protect the community’s native character and ecological depth first; only then can commercialization remain sustainable.

8. After the Pandemic, Overseas Brands Saw China as Incremental Growth—and Xiaohongshu as a Barometer

欧迪 is cautious about treating the pandemic as the sole cause: “I’m not completely sure.” Before 2021, Chinese teams were more likely to search Indiegogo and Kickstarter for overseas products; afterward, more international brands began actively seeking entry into China.
His explanation is that these brands had reached a certain scale globally and began viewing Greater China as incremental growth. The simultaneous explosion in sports, outdoor activities, and new lifestyles created a clear entry window.
殷一 adds that China’s post-pandemic recovery was faster than in other regions, especially Europe, while the outdoor boom had “phenomenal” intensity. Overseas brands were feeling growth pressure in their original markets, and Chinese distributors were willing to take on the execution risk.
The common path is to test online feedback on Xiaohongshu before deciding whether to open a flagship or concept store and expand KOC and KOL partnerships. 殷一 calls social media and brand promotion “fast propagation,” while races, athletes, communities, and word of mouth are “slow propagation” that takes time to compound.

9. The 2023 Partnership Found Two Right Audiences, Then Took XT-6 Beyond Its Technical Boundary

欧迪 recalls that Salomon and Xiaohongshu began working deeply together around 2023. XT-6 was already a mature hero product; the real question was how to move it from technical product into lifestyle and fashion audiences.
The platform first identified the “early adopters of hyped products” and the “color-sensitive crowd.” The former chase new brands and standout products; the latter are highly attuned to Salomon’s rich colorways, including combinations such as a black shoe with pink laces.
These two groups sit at the intersection of performance and lifestyle: they understand the product and are willing to share how they wear it. Salomon then used a Xiaohongshu buyer matrix to expand seeding and unlock sales; first-month GMV on the platform exceeded RMB10M.

10. 姜思达 Showed That Companion Content Converts Better Than a One-Off Livestream

欧迪 calls 姜思达 Salomon’s “super-user representative”: he runs marathons, has serious athletic ability, and brings a distinctive eye for aesthetics and styling, connecting the performance and fashion ends.
The partnership did not begin with a dedicated sales livestream. It followed him around the Paris Marathon for about a month, covering pre-race preparation, race-day warm-ups, and post-race stretching and recovery. Only after the comments filled with requests to buy the shoes he was wearing did the campaign move into a dedicated session.
殷一 stresses that 姜思达 could explain grip, traction, and performance across different terrain: “People know immediately whether you’re a professional.” Salomon also worked with 董洁, and 殷一 says every collaboration exceeded RMB10M. One reason 董洁 was chosen was her intelligence and strong aesthetic sense.
Sales data then fed back into assortment. After buying shoes, users frequently searched for styling, OOTD, down jackets, shell jackets, pants, and outdoor bags. Salomon responded by adding apparel and using more human, personality-led seeding accounts to teach shoe-and-clothing combinations.

11. Post-Purchase Content Assets Turn One Sale into the Next Customer-Acquisition Cycle

After apparel was added, repeat purchasers in the Xiaohongshu loop accounted for roughly 25%. With XT-Whisper, the team again extracted new content from the identities and usage scenarios of first-wave buyers, then fed it back into subsequent seeding.
欧迪 cares most about more than 5,000 post-purchase notes and approximately 200M impressions: “A purchase is the beginning of sharing, not the end of a transaction.” Users voluntarily explain which shoes they bought and how they style them, creating a long-term asset the brand cannot manufacture directly.
殷一 noticed the “wild Salomon ambassadors” as early as 2021. At the time, China’s annual business volume was under RMB200M, yet many celebrities, artists, and opinion leaders were already wearing the brand voluntarily. Searches for “outdoor” on Xiaohongshu produced more than 8M notes, perhaps even 10M, suggesting the platform could become one of the brand’s main battlegrounds.
His investment-efficiency view is that once a brand owns opinion leaders and core users inside the ecosystem, it can connect races, communities, seeding, transactions, and training camps “in one stroke.” Core membership grew from roughly 100,000 to 8M, with effective members accounting for more than 33%.

12. Ordinary-Person Progression Stories Rewrote the Brand’s Definition of Victory

殷一 cites employee 娜娜, who had worked in finance and was an ordinary recreational runner. She joined Salomon because her previous company was too busy and did not let her run. In the women’s 26km Golden Trail Series race, 娜娜 moved from fifth place during the descent to finish second.
娜娜 collapsed at the finish from exhaustion but recovered quickly after timely, professional treatment. 殷一 admits that if the same story were told by the brand’s general manager, listeners would question the motive; when a participant recounts the training, competition, and risk firsthand, it has “more texture.”
Ten years ago, the brand focused more on elite athletes and their winning moments. Users today care more about preparation, protection, lifestyle attitudes, and the people around them. 殷一’s updated definition is: “Victory belongs to everyone.” Running five minutes longer than yesterday is also a stage victory.

13. The “Salomon Girl” Sells Performative-Free Ease, Not Polished Staging

The XT-Whisper project was developed through early communication between the two sides, but 欧迪 stresses that the platform must keep surfacing audience and scene opportunities the brand may not see. The brand promotes the hero product; the platform maps new audiences around it.
Xiaohongshu’s central insight was that women were tiring of “stacked rituals.” Waking two hours early to do makeup for a photo shoot once felt aspirational; now it can feel like another form of over-optimization. They wanted shoes that could “step into a puddle and still enter a café.”
The team therefore defined XT-Whisper around “performative-free ease.” The Salomon Girl still pursues refinement but rejects excessive sculpting; she is “the wild girl in the city,” driven by inner curiosity and vitality rather than outward display.
赵今麦 was seen as the embodiment of that profile. When the new product launched, the Anfu Road store organized a night run, where runners naturally interacted with the celebrity. The resulting “You can really run into a celebrity on a night run” content pushed Salomon to No. 2 on Xiaohongshu’s organic trending list that night.

14. The Anfu Road Store Turns Retail into a Shared Venue for Brand History, Design, and the Neighborhood

殷一 saw a fit between Anfu Road’s architecture, the French brand, and the South-of-France character of Shanghai’s plane-tree district, eventually renting the entire building. He deliberately avoided making the space overly commercial and calls it Salomon retail “2.0.”
Each floor has a distinct role: Invite on the first floor welcomes users; Reinvent on the second presents key shoes, R&D, and technology from 1947 to today; Innovate on the third houses a Design Lab where global collaboration leads, Chinese emerging designers, and artists co-create Archive Models and future Models.
The first-floor Pop-up changes its theme roughly every three months, moving from macarons and ice cream to coffee, cheese fondue, and brand collaborations. Design Lab works are put to a market vote, with the planned winner to be released at Paris Fashion Week.
The street outside is also part of the product. Cafés, wonton shops, noodle shops, bakeries, and other owner-operated businesses participate in collaborations and advertising, while consumers send their check-in content back online. “What we are co-building is this community,” not merely another store on the street.

15. Women First Flipped a Male Brand, Then Brought Men Back Through Family and Performance Scenarios

殷一 recalls that Salomon China’s male users may have accounted for as much as 80% before 2020 or 2021; women approached 70% in 2022–2023 and now account for under 60%. His explanation is that women influenced more men: “Women’s absolute number is growing, but their share is falling.”
Globally, the split is roughly even, but female growth has been more pronounced in China. Women are more sensitive to new sports and fashion, and see the outdoors as a space for experience, socializing, and co-creation. New sports and communities such as frisbee—especially gender-inclusive frisbee events—provide high-participation entry points.
Product fit also matters. Asian women’s feet are closer to European men’s, making the lasts relatively friendly to women; Asian men tend to have wider feet and higher insteps, and some shoes previously pressed against the instep. Salomon began changing its China lasts in 2023 and completed the work in 2024, after which the gender mix moved toward balance.
Men have a longer decision chain and care more about specifications, technology, athletic performance, trying shoes on, and friends’ feedback, but often become committed fans once they convert. Women place more weight on the process, comfort, protection, and being “professional but still fashionable,” and have higher repurchase rates than men.

16. Fashion Did Not Weaken Professionalism; It Put Professional Advice into More Real-Life Scenarios

殷一 uses his first trail-running experience to illustrate the conversion power of professional credibility. Fellow experienced runners recommend Genesis or Ultra Glide 3 based on distance; for a four-day, 120km-plus Gobi trek, they suggest wool socks to prevent blisters. In such situations, he believes acquisition efficiency is “100%.”
Salomon’s fashion credibility is not unique to China. Paris Fashion Week collaboration signals from The Broken Arm and BBS, along with Rihanna wearing the Cross collaboration between Salomon and MM6 Maison Margiela at the Super Bowl, have helped Chinese consumers expand their definition of outdoor fashion.
Asked whether fashion could dilute professionalism, 殷一 says clearly that he is “not worried.” Fashion is used to reach users and convert them into road-running, trail-running, and skiing enthusiasts; snow gear, athletes, and professional races remain core investments.
His formula for surviving cycles is continuous innovation, protecting professionalism, understanding consumers, and using platforms and partners to cover professional races and versatile sports. Partners can argue fiercely, but platform recommendations, the brand’s sporting spirit, and a closed execution loop are all indispensable.

17. Young Consumers Are Moving from Category Champions to Specific Answers from Brands That “Get Me”

欧迪 observes that functional supply is already abundant; purchases are increasingly driven by specific scenarios, emotions, aesthetics, and life stages. “Female users” will continue to split by style, context, and need, with entirely different purchase triggers within the same category.
Xiaohongshu search terms are therefore getting longer, often becoming full sentences. Users spell out their state, pain points, and constraints, then actively seek advice. In the past, saying “I’m the top brand in this category” might have been enough; now brands must express who they are and what problems they solve across multiple scenarios.
殷一 believes men are also becoming more refined and more willing to share, but lacked a platform in the past. If AI further specifies the sport, location, and usage parameters, decision paths will become shorter and more focused.
For consumer AI products, 殷一 thinks the first move may be to focus on one narrow scenario and become “fast, accurate, and efficient,” while holding a clear view: “Something watertight often means there is no answer.” The ideal product is “my own Jarvis,” one that understands the user’s context rather than giving everyone the same response.

18. The China Engine and Repeat Traffic Will Determine Whether Salomon Can Keep Expanding

Salomon is pursuing category and scenario expansion. Beyond the French performance line, products from the Korean line are growing; 白敬亭 wearing Salomon apparel became a same-day breakout moment, while another wild ambassador wearing the brand caused every apparel item to sell out or lose its full size run both online and offline within a single day.
The new “China engine” will lead local footwear and apparel development. China-led apparel is planned for the first quarter of next year, followed by progressive launches in 2026–2027 covering footwear innovations such as midsole foams and upper materials. Together with French global R&D, this creates a dual-engine model, while snow, trail running, road running, and hiking continue to form the full-scene portfolio.
Products will also be recombined by channel and audience. Xiaohongshu can configure product bundles by age, gender, and scenario; physical stores can tailor assortments to different cities and commercial districts. The goal is not to divide online from offline but to create a bidirectionally flowing ecosystem.
欧迪 elevates seeding to the level of company-wide operating logic: “Provide a solution for everyone’s desired way of life.” R&D, design, color, merchandising, notes, e-commerce, stores, and post-purchase sharing must all understand the consumer—but not pander to everyone. First find the core target audience that identifies with the brand DNA, then expand scenarios, mindshare, and touchpoints.

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