2. Immersion at the heart of our teams

"DESIGN is a creative process that helps solve a range of issues encountered during day-to-day use, involving both function and appearance.
I worked on the Traxium Compressor, a French-made innovative football boot, and a real UFO in the football shoe market. This constituted a genuine DESIGN challenge with the implementation of a specific assembly technology that could not be allowed to eclipse the shoe’s technical quality and performance. To surmount this challenge, considerable curiosity, inventiveness, determination, tenacity and patience was called for."

"For me, DESIGN goes hand in hand with empathy. It’s all about finding an emotional and functional response to a specific need. Alongside Edouard Damestoy, a member of the DECATHLON Athletics Team and the first French skateboarder to win the X-Games, in 2022, we designed a high-end skateboard, the DK900 made from fibreglass, which he used to win numerous international competitions. Aside from the technical aspect, my challenge was to find the perfect solution in terms of graphics. Together, we defined an artistic direction, one that would reflect his personality within this product."

"“Less is more” is my mantra. DESIGN enables us to tell a story that resonates with people, inspires them and makes them smile. For me, a designer is a bit like a film director with an overall vision, capable of stepping back and taking stock, in order to move things forward; someone who dares to take risks. Our challenge is to design products and experiences that have to abide by the rules of cricket – the rules that don’t just represent a technical definition but the whole spirit in which the sport is played. With my creative team, I’ve created a DESIGN artistic direction for cricket to design products suitable for playing either conventional or new forms of cricket, as both current versions of cricket should be taken into account. Four years have passed since we launched our DESIGN strategy, and we are now viewed in India as a credible and legitimate cricket brand."

"DESIGN can be used to combine aesthetics with practicality – “form and function” – and especially for questioning the world around us so we can try and improve our daily lives while addressing current (social and environmental) concerns. I helped to design the JOG KOKOON, a post-mastectomy running bra, in association with the Oscar Lambret Centre (the regional cancer treatment centre) in Hauts-de-France (doctors, nurses, patients, etc.). For this project, which took four years of research, the main challenge in terms of DESIGN was devising as simple a bra as possible, despite the complexity of the incorporated functions (prosthesis support, softness, absence of seams next to the skin, support for intensive sport use, reassurance regarding product safety), so that the women wearing them do not feel stigmatised by a bra that is radically different to a classic bra."

"For me, DESIGN is akin to a language – a collection of ideas from a tangible perspective – and can be used to fulfil a need or function and represent it in simple terms. I worked on the second version of the Magic Bike, a concrete exploration process, constructed as an invitation to travel. In short, an agile bike that’s ideal for short rides as well as family trips over several days. My challenge? To set off on a design race adventure where I use creative workshops to feed my ideas into prototypists, pattern makers and 3D designers in order to firm up several product typologies such as bikes, baggage solutions and seats in 3D printing, as well as a trailer for kids. I also produced a lot of quick sketches, to emphasise and address the technical constraints while guaranteeing overall consistency."

"For me, DESIGN helps to make each sports activity more desirable, memorable and responsible. We are creators of emotions. The way I see it, everything begins with a technical challenge for a particular shoe model, regardless of the sport: it could be weight, grip, support… My job is to then respond to this new challenge in the most innovative way possible. By being at the heart of a recognised ecosystem for leading edge technologies, I can co-develop new materials and new aesthetics. The biggest challenge is to make DESIGN work for these innovations, so they can express their full potential simply and intuitively."

"There are various ways to tackle this job, but - for me - a designer is empathetic; they should offer solutions that are a subtle blend of function and emotion. These days, DESIGN should inspire in order to build decarbonised lifestyles. In 2020, with the desire to blend technical prowess with eco-design, we began working on dye-free aesthetics with the team, planning as far ahead as 2026, with the aim of appearing on the market in 2022 with a bivouac collection. From there, we started to make prototypes so we could exhibit them in our offices, to hear and listen to our teammates’ opinions, those of our future users, and to adjust our work streams for the product that came to fruition in 2022."

"DESIGN is a way for everyone to remain true to themselves. It can reveal a personality, as well as help with self-expression and connection to others. In China’s burgeoning sports market, we really have to stay ahead of the trends while remaining mindful of the whole design process, which is a huge challenge. We set up a local creative direction project that draws on the global creative direction, which is adapted to suit the needs and product offers of our particular geography. Designers’ analyses help us become more agile and respond to colour trends in record time (6 months), against a backdrop of highly fluctuating and rapidly changing market conditions."

"To my mind, DESIGN is a philosophy in itself that aims to improve day-to-day living by pushing the innovation boundaries in terms of both products and services but also experiences. It can be used to create innovative and sustainable solutions that meet the needs of society. With my teams, working on Advanced DESIGN, we look ahead far into the future, to very long-term usages. We are a decision-making tool for shaping the design of tomorrow, which, for me, represents a real creative adventure that requires both intuition and a solid methodology. For example, we have been working on a stand-up paddleboard where we replaced the PVC with algae and hemp, using a special formulation. The result was a product containing zero fossil-based materials that can also help to combat seabed eutrophication (by recovering algae), thereby encouraging regeneration."