Lagoped and Watsé: when the equipment chooses its side

Some collaborations are built on a commercial argument. Others start with a conviction. When Watsé, a trekking agency based in Saint-Gervais, decided to equip its guides with customized outdoor clothing from Lagoped, it was the second logic that prevailed. No call for tenders, no catalog benchmarking: a personal approach to the brand, motivated by a simple question. 

Does what you wear say something about who you are?

Their values are explicit: originality and professionalism, support for local partners, appreciation of the cultures encountered, respect for the environment, uncompromising safety. On the ground, this translates concretely: water is filtered rather than consumed from bottles, picnics are served in washable containers, local providers are paid above the sector average, air travel is limited when the train is an option. This is not just for show. It’s an organization that requires choices at every step.

Choosing partners and gear (especially customized clothing for guides) is part of these decisions.

The question of equipping guides is not trivial. A guide wears their outfit from the first to the last day of a trip. They are visible to their clients, often in conditions where the gear is put to the test: dry cold at altitude, humidity in refuges, long days of guiding, temperature transitions. What a guide wears says something about the agency that employs them.

For Watsé, the idea was to equip their guides with French, technical, and committed gear, aligned with the values they uphold with their clients. Customized clothing for guides in the agency's colors, for team cohesion and a consistent image in the field from the first to the last day of the trip.

Lagoped matched this search. Clothing made in Europe from 100% recycled materials and PFAS-free, with a 5-year warranty and repair service. A published PEF eco-score across the entire range, allowing transparent comparison of environmental impact. And products designed for real mountain use conditions, not just for a concept store shelf.

Watsé guides wear certain Lagoped pieces daily: custom TEEREC t-shirts, technical and flannel shirts, and very soon caps. Pieces worn in very varied contexts that test durability and comfort over time far more effectively than a lab testing protocol.

This is one of the concrete advantages of partnering with field professionals: the feedback is not from an occasional user. A guide who spends a hundred days a year in the mountains quickly knows if a garment holds up. They know if the seams withstand weeks of intensive use, if the cut suits the repeated movements of guiding, if the material retains its properties after dozens of washes. Lagoped’s 5-year warranty and repair service fit this logic: pieces designed to last, not to be replaced every season.

What makes this partnership coherent is less about product alignment and more about a shared approach to mountain activity.

Watsé supports tourism that respects the territories it passes through: no mass tourism, support for local providers, and a thoughtful, limited environmental impact. Lagoped builds its clothing with the same logic: a manufacturing chain entirely within the European Union for social and environmental reasons, recycled materials to reduce impact at the source, and durability designed so a piece lasts a long time rather than being frequently replaced.

On both sides, there is a conviction that mountain activities benefit from being practiced differently. And that the choices we make, including what we wear, can be consistent with that.

To discover the trekking, mountaineering, and ski touring trips offered by Watsé, visit watse.fr. To explore the range of technical clothing worn in the field, go here: Lagoped hiking and mountain collection.