Riethmann resigns from LOWA management board

LOWA's rise to become one of the leading international manufacturers of mountaineering and hiking boots has been inextricably linked to Werner Riethmann since the early 1990s. In 1992, the Swiss national was appointed to the management of the company, which was in a difficult financial situation at the time. Riethmann had previously worked for Raichle, a Swiss manufacturer of alpine boots, for 27 years and was already a highly respected figure in the industry at the time. Together with the new owner of LOWA, the Italian Tecnica Group headed by Giancarlo Zanatta, which still holds 80 per cent of the shares today, Werner Riethmann quickly set the course for a new direction. This included the decision to concentrate entirely on the mountain and trekking sector and to hand over the production of ski boots to Tecnica. A milestone in the company's development was the market launch of the RENEGADE in 1997, which has sold more than 12 million units to date, making it one of the most successful outdoor products in Europe. Riethmann was the first to produce a hiking boot in which the sole was no longer glued but directly moulded on - the cornerstone of a new generation of "lightweight" outdoor shoes.

This was accompanied by rapid growth: while LOWA produced around 300,000 pairs of shoes in 1993, it has recently produced more than 3 million pairs, which are now sold in around 80 countries worldwide. Another important building block under Riethmann's aegis was the takeover of the previous production partner in Slovakia in 2019, whereby LOWA secured its own production base alongside the production facility in Jetzendorf, Upper Bavaria, in line with the "Made in Europe" principle.

Werner Riethmann comments: "After more than 30 years as a partner and managing director, how could it be otherwise, a lot of my heart and soul is in LOWA. I am grateful that I have been able to play a part in the proud history of this company, whose foundations were laid by the Wagner and Lederer families, over such a long period of time. Many thanks to all those who have accompanied and supported me during this time. However, the success of the past decades is not the work of one individual, but always the achievement of good teams united by the pursuit of the highest product quality. Today, LOWA is a growing and healthy company. With Alexander Nicolai and the management team, it is ideally positioned to continue on its successful path."