I am never one to look back too much, there is always so much on the horizon. I also have a hopeless memory; seasons and years seem to merge into one. Saying that, some occasions stand out and Mons Royale's first ISPO is one of them. So as I fly over to my tenth instalment of the tradeshow, I will do my best to recite a bit of Mons history.
ISPO is a mega tradeshow in Munich, Germany that attracts thousands of the sports industry's leading media outlets, retailers and brands. I had previously attended ISPO as a pro skier, enjoying the Volkl skis parties and late starts. This time it would be different, I was on the other side of the ledger and like a comp run from my Freeride World Tour days, I was putting it all on the line and introducing Mons Royale to the world!
We had just one sample set which entailed twelve styles in three colourways and it all went in one bag. Our workbook was six pages and our stand for ISPO was six meters by six metres. Our accommodation was a downtown backpacker joint. We would stuff our bags full of sandwiches (salami and cheese) for the day ahead.
We were naive and optimistic. We believed that of the thousands of people attending, a couple of hundred would see our amazing imagery and stop to talk to us. The reality was, our location was a shocker - we were in a dead zone. I spent most of my time at other brands' booths, enjoying their coffee and trying to steal people's precious time to hear my pitch. After four days we came away with leads, but no orders. We had crashed and burned hard. But like any good rookie, we soaked up the experience like sponges. I wasn't going to quit after just one knock down.
When I say "we" this is a slight exaggeration. It was just two of us, I had also convinced my now-wife Hannah to join me on the trip. We had met only a couple of months earlier in my hometown of Wanaka, NZ. She had just arrived back from four years in New York, working as a visual designer for a brand innovation agency called Fahrenheit 212. Somehow I had convinced her to not carry on to Sydney, but to join me in launching Mons Royale.
During ISPO, we spent time looking around. We both knew Mons Royale could compete and win in the environment. But at the same time, we knew we had to make some changes. So, on the long flight home, we made the call to halt production so Hannah could work on the brand identity.
Arriving back to NZ, Hannah got to work updating the word mark, waistband, graphics and packaging. She had just two weeks to do it. At the same time, I jumped on a plane bound for the States to judge a Freeride World Tour stop in Squaw Valley. Looking back, it was crazy good luck. I got to let off steam skiing waist deep powder, which meant I wasn't trying to tell Hannah how to design. And on my return, it was done; a new brand identity ready for the world.
From there we got on a roll. Shinka (Jean-Claude Philip) who was my team manager at Volkl skis, introduced me to Roman Candrian, a Swiss retailer with stores in Laax and Zurich. Roman bought our remaining inventory for his stores that first year. Roman was also the Swiss distributor of Armada skis, Orage and Jibberish. He would go on to introduce us to his connections and kick start Mons Royale in Europe.
Today, as I travel to Munich for my tenth ISPO, we have grown to be stocked in over 600 retailers. We have a global fan base, including some of the world's best athletes. Our ISPO stand is four times the size of our 2009 iteration and our Innsbruck office has organized every detail (including cold beer). Unlike ten years ago, I probably won't be able to leave the stand, as it will be stacked with people wanting to meet and see the new FW19 collection. How things have changed.
That being said, on the drive to the Queenstown airport to catch my flight to Munich, I suddenly found myself stranded on the Crown Range, changing a flat tire on the Subaru. Even after ten years, it still feels like I'm a ski-bum just trying to make it to the next mountain town.
Some things never change.
Written by: Hamish Acland
Photos: The Mons Royale Archive and Hannah Acland
Australia
New Zealand
Switzerland
Rest of Europe
Canada
United States
