Arc’teryx Promotes Renée Augustine to GM of Its Newly Created Footwear Business Unit
When it comes to footwear, Arc’teryx is running full speed ahead.
With a goal of accelerating the growth of its footwear category, the Amer Sports-owned company announced Tuesday that it has created a dedicated footwear business unit. The move comes one year after Arc’teryx was designing and creating its own footwear collection entirely in-house after years of leaning on the insights and expertise of fellow Amer Sports brand Salomon.
“Establishing a dedicated footwear business unit marks an exciting step in the evolution of Arc’teryx,” Arc’teryx chief executive officer Stuart Haselden told FN. “For years, the brand has been synonymous with best-in-class technical apparel and equipment for mountain terrain. Today’s move signals that footwear is central to who we are and essential to our growth and innovation.”
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He continued, “As we’ve launched new silhouettes — in-house designed and reimagined over the last four years — the hunger from new guests and long-time loyalists validated not only market readiness but a strong desire for more mountain-focused, design-led footwear.”
Haselden also told FN that this move is “backed by meaningful investment” and that there are dedicated research and development resources for footwear “that didn’t exist four years ago” with plans for an expanded lab and testing infrastructure in Portland, Ore.
Leading the footwear business unit is industry veteran Renée Augustine, who has been elevated to the general manager of footwear role, effective immediately. Augustine most recently served as the company’s vice president of strategy and enterprise PMO, and prior to Arc’teryx, she held leadership positions at both Under Armour and Nike.
“Footwear was declared a strategic priority for the business in the past several years, receiving increased resources and dedicated attention including the building of our Portland Creation Center. Having a dedicated BU solidifies our path forward, one where footwear is more than a product line,” Augustine told FN. “This move allows us to move faster, test more boldly and bring innovative solutions to market that are deeply informed by the needs of mountain athletes. It also gives us the space to explore new materials, innovate on fit, function and design, and really define what Arc’teryx footwear stands for in a way we couldn’t before.”
Additionally, Arc’teryx confirmed chief merchandising officer Matt Bolte will expand his role to oversee footwear and Ovidio Garcia — who joined the company in 2021 — has been appointed VP of footwear product. In this role, Arc’teryx stated Garcia will lead the Footwear Product Center of Excellence.
Arc’teryx stated Portland, Ore. will continue to serve as the primary hub for its dedicated footwear business unit, which will include resources across product creation, brand marketing and commercial functions. What’s more, Haselden confirmed with FN that it will continue to grow the footwear team “significantly” and it is currently hiring “across multiple disciplines including biomechanics, footwear development, digital marketing and commercial operations.”
Speaking with FN in February, Garcia expressed a goal of Arc’teryx becoming the leader in “pinnacle mountain terrain,” and revealed several releases for 2025. Those included the Norvan LD 4 long-distance running shoe that arrived in March, the Vertex Speed hybrid mountain running shoe that debuted this month, the Konseal approach shoe that will hit retail in July and the Norvan Nivalis mountain running shoe that is expected in October.
Arc’teryx also stated it plans to “significantly expand” its footwear offerings in the coming years under this business structure. In February, Garcia offered FN a look at what’s to come.
“One thing we’ve done really well over the past year, two years, was create an amazing product pipeline,” Garcia told FN in February. “We have a cadence of every 24 months to update the models that we have, that is the product life cycle that we apply to the majority of them, and they stagger. Every season, we have a new story, and this corresponds with the pace of the consumer and the pace of the market today.”
He continued, “We will continue to build upon that, but it’s not endless. It’s not going to be massive. We will contain it quite a bit.”
