SALEWA has a long-standing, deep-rooted alpine heritage with mountaineering, climbing and technical mountain sports forming the strands of its company DNA. This is clearly reflected in the Salewa brand slogan: PURE MOUNTAIN. Like mountaineers reaching a summit and then considering their next objective, to create its SS25 collection Salewa asked a simple question, “What’s next?” The simple answer is NXT.
With NXT, Salewa has created a collection that sits within its mountaineering line, extended to cover other activities, such as climbing and speed hiking. The resulting products are described as ‘a powerhouse of technical innovation that are both highly desirable to progressive users and accessible to a wide range of new consumers.’
Versatile, multi-disciplinary, multi-faceted and ready to interpret the mountains in new ways, they perform comfortably in varied technical terrain and different situations, from scrambling or climbing at moderate grades to technical routes at high altitudes.
Pronounced like the word ‘next, the NXT collection refers to the ‘next objective’ and, therefore, new by definition, looking both back to Salewa’s past and forwards to the future. It draws inspiration from the tastes, passions and requirements of modern and progressive mountain-inspired enthusiasts.
With its NXT collection, Salewa has engineered products to meet the demands of ‘fast mountaineering’ – moving quickly with less weight in the mountains through changing terrain. As such, Salewa sees NXT as a combination of the alpine disciplines of mountaineering, climbing and speed hiking with each of these requiring a different skill set.
These include the high endurance levels of a trail runner and speed hiker to be able to cover long distances and vertical metres during the approach and the intended tour. Allied to endurance are the precision, agility, and control of a climber to be able to move quickly and securely in rocky terrain and the mental strength of an alpinist to have the confidence to cope with exposed situations and difficult conditions.
Reflecting the evolution, the equipment needs to be versatile enough to cope with a range of seemingly contrasting demands; lightweight yet robust, precise yet comfortable, minimalist yet multi-functional. All linked to working hard to reduce environmental impact with a sustainable, mono-material approach to fabric selection that is durable, lightweight and circular.