In recent years, Chinese consumers’ understanding of the outdoors has been evolving. What was once associated primarily with extreme and specialized sports is now increasingly seen as a relaxing, healing lifestyle that allows people to return to their true selves. This shift has directly influenced consumption decisions: consumers are placing greater value on their relationship with nature and are more willing to choose brands that genuinely practice sustainable development.
As a French outdoor brand with nearly a century of heritage, how should Lafuma respond to these new consumer expectations? Tracy Wu, General Manager of Lafuma China, summarizes the brand’s sustainability strategy as “walking on two legs”: “Products are our hard strength, while activities are our soft communication. Neither can be absent.”
During the interview, Tracy wore Lafuma’s first carbon-neutral T-shirt and shared the green story behind the product, as well as Lafuma’s sustainability journey — from brand philosophy and environmental initiatives to the low-carbon implementation of its products.
Product Strength × Brand Engagement: From Outdoor Activities to a Carbon-Neutral T-Shirt
Founded in 1930, Lafuma is a French outdoor brand that combines French design aesthetics with professional functionality, creating stylish and practical hiking and travel gear for nature lovers. Its logo is inspired by the leaf of the silver poplar, one of the most common trees in the Alpine region. Tall and resilient, the tree symbolizes Lafuma’s long-standing attitude toward nature: coexisting with nature, rather than conquering it.
Lafuma regards outdoor activities as an important bridge for communicating sustainability with consumers in a softer, more experiential way. In recent years, the brand has continued to organize initiatives such as Lafuma Origin, the “Little Elephant Rainforest Ecological Exploration,” the “Protect the Blue Planet” exhibition, and Leave No Trace outdoor activities.
“By participating in these outdoor activities, consumers can directly feel Lafuma’s respect for and commitment to protecting nature,” Tracy explained. “These activities are no longer just marketing campaigns. Sustainability is transformed from a concept into a real experience.”
When consumers have truly walked a mountain trail, crossed a rainforest, or personally picked up a piece of litter left behind in nature, their understanding of sustainability becomes deeper. They are also more willing to choose outdoor brands that genuinely put sustainability into practice.
Lafuma Origin’s “Walk in Southern France” event. Image source: Lafuma France Official WeChat Account and Xiaohongshu.
At the other end of this “soft communication” is Lafuma’s continuous investment in sustainable product strength. Lafuma embraces long-termism as its product philosophy, reducing the burden of fashion consumption on nature at the source by improving garment durability and enabling consumers to wear each piece for longer.
After years of accumulated sustainability practices in product development, the brand’s first carbon-neutral T-shirt has naturally emerged. The T-shirt not only retains the simplicity, comfort, and versatility required for daily wear, while fitting both commuting and outdoor sports scenarios, but also integrates low-carbon principles into every stitch, accompanying consumers through each moment of wear.
Lafuma’s first carbon-neutral T-shirt. Scan the QR code to view detailed carbon footprint information.
With the support of Carbon Newture, Lafuma achieved full life-cycle carbon neutrality for this short-sleeved T-shirt — including the men’s model LMTS6BSX0 and the women’s model LFTS6BSX0 — covering raw material acquisition, production and manufacturing, distribution and transportation, use, and end-of-life disposal. The product is also equipped with a carbon label. By scanning the QR code, consumers can view detailed carbon footprint information for the carbon-neutral T-shirt.
“This is not a marketing gimmick, but a concrete expression of Lafuma’s long-term commitment to green development,” Tracy said. Her dual identity as both a brand manager and an outdoor enthusiast gives her a clearer understanding of what this carbon-neutral T-shirt means to consumers: the more everyday and versatile a product is, the more likely it is to be chosen. And every purchase becomes practical support for low-carbon products — a gentle act of care for nature.
From Source to End User: Lafuma’s Supply Chain Decarbonization Journey
Much of the environmental impact of the apparel industry takes place outside consumers’ view. The textile industry generates approximately 3% of global greenhouse gas emissions, with its carbon footprint distributed across value chain stages including raw material acquisition, production and processing, logistics and transportation, and end-of-life disposal. Therefore, for Lafuma, creating a carbon-neutral T-shirt is not simply about reducing emissions in a single stage. It requires precise carbon accounting and decarbonization across the full product life cycle.
From a broader perspective, low-carbon and sustainable development has long become a major trend across the apparel industry. “Upstream fabric suppliers are continuously advancing the development of eco-friendly materials, and consumers are no longer blindly persuaded by advertising. They care more about actual implementation and tangible results,” Tracy said. As General Manager of Lafuma China, she has a direct understanding of the industry’s green transition.
Yet when it comes back to the product itself, building a truly carbon-neutral T-shirt on the basis of this “green consensus” still requires the brand to confront more complex business realities: eco-friendly materials often lead to higher costs; full life-cycle carbon data accounting involves multiple stakeholders and complicated processes; and as consumers become increasingly capable of identifying greenwashing, they demand greater transparency and traceability across the entire value chain. All these factors show that decarbonization requires coordinated efforts across the upstream and downstream of the whole industrial chain.
To break down barriers to supply chain emission reduction and realize green transformation across the value chain, Lafuma has long invested in and integrated its production processes. From yarn production to the selection of processing factories, Lafuma gives priority to suppliers that provide eco-friendly fabrics and adopt lower-carbon production processes, putting environmental principles into practice from the source and jointly creating low-carbon products.
This long-term green investment across the product life cycle has also been recognized by the industry. In 2025, Lafuma received the Voyage Awards Sustainable Outdoor Brand of the Year award.
“The first carbon-neutral T-shirt is a milestone, and also a new starting point,” Tracy concluded at the end of the interview, while making further green commitments. “In the future, Lafuma will continue to launch carbon-neutral products covering all seasons, disclose more transparent environmental information both online and offline, and further deepen brand IP activities such as Lafuma Origin and ecological exploration.”
Tracy Wu, General Manager of Lafuma China, during the interview
As the outdoors shifts from “conquering nature” to “coexisting with nature,” the role of outdoor brands is also quietly changing. An outdoor brand is no longer merely a company that produces outdoor equipment; it is also a companion that helps consumers build a relationship with nature.
“We hope that in every purchase and every journey, consumers can feel Lafuma’s efforts to walk alongside nature,” Tracy said.
