VAUDE Product Philosophy: Performance meets Ecology

Each and every product has its own specific purpose: this purpose defines the requirements that each product needs to meet along with our expectations of it. Who will be using it, in what kind of weather, the location and activity – these are all significant factors that we take into consideration for every product we develop. Where is more freedom of movement needed? More ventilation? How user-friendly are the pockets or zips? We ourselves are avid mountaineers, cyclists and travelers – the outdoors is our playground, summer, spring winter and fall – we have very high expectations for ourselves and of the products that we develop.

The absolute functionality of our products, even under extreme conditions, is what wins over our customers. With a distinctive design, we draw attention to those elements that are crucial when a product is used. Components that are visually distracting often interfere with the use of a product, so we invest time and energy into optimizing its essential features in terms of functionality. After all, when you’re up in the mountains and it starts to rain, it can be vital that zips don’t snag when you’re in a rush and that you can easily and securely lash down your gear.

We at VAUDE want to take on responsibility and create a counter balance to resource consuming lifestyles and often shortsighted product policies in order to offer consumers a genuine alternative. Our products have to prove themselves under the extreme conditions found in the mountains - tough requirements that sometimes influence what we expect from products in our everyday lives as well. Versatility is vital when you’re in the mountains – both for the people who use our products and the products they use. Whenever we recognize an opportunity to develop just one product instead of two, we take advantage of this opportunity to simplify.

Just like a mountaineer who prefers to pack clothing and gear with the least amount of bulk and weight – that is reliable, fully meets expectations, and is truly versatile – if one product will do the job of two, this can have a significant effect on the use of resources in all aspects.

VAUDE doesn’t make products that are here today, gone tomorrow. They are not designed to follow short-lived trends. Trends guide us, but we reinterpret and adapt them to suit our needs in accordance with our mission statement and our design requirements.

Design, materials and workmanship are all focused on ensuring that products can be used for as long as possible and that they provide maximal enjoyment. Our products need to be as simple and easy to clean as possible, especially when they’re being used on a secluded trail, far away from civilization. And because things can go wrong out in the field – your jacket gets caught on a branch, you stumble on a difficult trail and damage your pack – we try to make our products as easy to repair as possible. We offer our customers a variety of options for repairing their products.

Why develop a new product unless it is noticeably and tangibly superior to its predecessor? Every product we develop should be a clear advancement in functional, economic and ecological terms; otherwise it loses its justification.

During the product development phase, we benefit from new technologies or synergies with other departments – not just for economic reasons, but also for ecological reasons.

We rely on existing solutions as well as systematically pursue improvements. New materials and fabrics make it possible to push boundaries, to create products that are lighter, more flexible and functional, and to create genuine value for our customers.

Our products meet a high standard of sustainability, to ensure that the footprint that we leave behind during the development and production phases is as small as possible. What happens at the end of a product’s life? We think beyond the intended use of our products. We take the potential return of the product into account as well as reusing its components as raw resources at the highest possible level.

Our roots are in mountain sports. Avid mountaineers, cyclists and travelers have always shaped and promoted our product range. The mountains place high, clearly defined demands on us and on our gear. We expect our products to surpass these requirements, because we know that sometimes, everything can depend on it. We implement the standards set in our mission statement with impeccable workmanship, because only carefully selected, approved and tested, as well as perfectly crafted materials can ensure that our products fulfill the demands set by use in the mountains. Our passion for the mountains can be felt and experienced in each and every VAUDE product. Today, we not only develop products for mountaineers but for people all over the world who are passionate about experiencing life to the fullest. Therefore all VAUDE products express the Spirit of Mountain Sports.

At VAUDE, design isn’t focused solely on the product itself – what inspires us and motivates us are the adventures, those very personal experiences that are made possible by our products. In our eyes, the best product is one that works perfectly, is unobtrusive and absolutely reliable.

Over billions of years, nature has found a solution to every problem, whether large or small. It is a grandmaster in terms of simplicity, but also when it comes to abundance, lightweight construction and effectiveness. Nowhere else can we discover and learn as much as in the wonderland that is Mother Nature.

We use nature-inspired solutions as a model and try to apply them to our products. Beyond this, we also use natural principles as a source of inspiration for our products.

Efficiency is one of these principles – achieving excellent results using the minimum amount of resources. We try to take what evolution has perfected over the ages and transfer it to the ongoing development of our products: What is it about the product that captivates us, and can this be transferred to new products? What can be improved upon and what can we learn from our mistakes? This enables us to significantly reduce the amount of resources required for our product development, and helps to relieve the burden on the environment.

We live in an age of possibilities. Yet along with all of these possibilities comes a growing pressure on us to make decisions – more than 20,000 day after day, most of which we make unconsciously.

When it comes to the best clothing and gear, we at VAUDE have the responsibility to provide our customers with a clear and unambiguous product range to help them make the right decision:

What is the perfect product to precisely meet your needs? Each product in our range must have its own clear, unambiguous and distinct place.

The VAUDE product range is clearly and logically organized in accordance with each product’s intended use, target customer and price category. This helps us ensure that our product range is economical and compact so that we can conserve resources and keep our ecological footprint as low as possible. After all, we want the people of tomorrow to be able to enjoy nature to the fullest as well.