Latest news with #Georges
Miami Herald
05-07-2025
- Automotive
- Miami Herald
A Bentley Pick-Up Truck Is More Likely That You'd Imagine
A few years ago, if you wanted a comfortable and quick daily-driver truck, your choices were pretty limited. Maybe a Ram TRX or a Ford F-150 Raptor if you wanted power with some plushness. But what if you had a nearly unlimited budget, wanted uncompromising luxury, and still needed a bed big enough to haul more than golf bags? Believe it or not, Bentley's in-house coachbuilder, Mulliner, could be your answer. On its website, Bentley says, "With Mulliner, the possibilities are endless." Mulliner was the very first coachbuilder and has been reimagining Bentleys since 1923. Most of the time, Mulliner builds involve custom paint colors, personalized interiors, and bespoke details. One of their most recent projects, the Bentley Mulliner Batur, shares the majority of its mechanical parts with the Continental GT Speed, but is built from the ground up to meet its client's request. Only 18 examples will be built, and cost $1.2 million a pop. In a recent interview with Australia's CarSales, Bentley sales and marketing executive, Christophe Georges, confirmed that a Bentley pickup isn't beyond the realm of possibility. When asked if Mulliner could build such a vehicle, Georges responded, "Fundamentally, there is no real limitation." That might sound like PR fluff, but we think it holds some real weight. All that's needed is enough customers willing to bankroll the build. At first, the idea of a Bentley pickup sounds far-fetched. But think about how much the auto industry has changed in just a decade. Lamborghini makes an SUV. Rolls-Royce does too. Ferrari sells a V12-powered family car. Minis have grown larger than some crossovers, and Dodge makes the Charger muscle car without an engine. Bentley's current lineup includes a grand touring coupe, a convertible, a luxury sedan, and an SUV, with an electric version on the way. The next logical step would be to reinvent the pick-up truck. The name and price remain a mystery, but if history has taught us anything, it'll probably be something overly pretencious like "Ascendant" and cost ast least $500,000. Copyright 2025 The Arena Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
The Irish Sun
04-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Irish Sun
Ekin-Su's ex brands her ‘selfish and entitled' and reveals he's now in therapy after split
EKIN-SU's Married At First Sight ex has hit out at her and blasted her in an explosive new podcast chat. Georges Berthoneau took aim at Ekin during an appearance on Jemma Lucy and Nathaniel Valentino's podcast. 6 Ekin-Su's MAFS ex has claimed he is in therapy following his 'split' from the TV beauty Credit: Rex 6 The pair were known to be close before she signed up for Love Island All Stars Credit: Getty 6 Ekin found love with Curtis on All Stars but split with him three months later Credit: Rex The pair were understood to be dating in late 2024 ahead of Ekin-Su signing up to Love Island: All Stars. But things between the pair went sour and any hopes of a reconciliation after she left the villa have been thwarted amid Georges' accusations. Georges accused Ekin-Su of "messing him about" and suggested they were still in a relationship even when she signed up for the starry spin-off - something which Ekin has repeatedly and strenuously denied. Chatting to the podcast's hosts, Georges said: "I knew she was going on [Love Island All Stars] - we'd first spoke about it in October. Read More on Love Island "I was with her and she met my parents at Christmas. We did Boxing Day together and we did New Year's Eve. "I left hers on the 3rd of January and she flew [to South Africa] on the 4th. "I was the last person she rang before she went into filming. "She said, 'I'll come straight back to you and I already miss you'." Most read in Love Island He went on to insist that his split from Ekin-Su had left him needing therapy after she pursued a relationship with Georges said on the show: 'Like I started therapy I've never had therapy in my whole life and when I told her she went 'Oh that's good that you've gone to therapy I think we should all go.' Ekin-Su and Curtis Pritchard SPLIT three months after Love Island All Stars "I cried straight for I don't know how many nights or weeks. "So she was there [in Love Island] six weeks, I'd probably say I cried straight from week one or two to like. She didn't speak to me for eight days post show. She had her phone for eight days she didn't message me - maybe she did she went 'I'm overwhelmed'. 'She's the most selfish, entitled person I've ever met she didn't want anyone to know about me. 'Every big awards night that she ever went to who do you think was in her hotel room waiting for her." Ekin-Su and Curtis remained together for a few months after the programme but The pair's split was amicable with them sharing similar social media statements to confirm the sad news to fans. Ekin-Su has The Sun has contacted a representative for Ekin-Su for comment. 6 Georges hit out at Ekin-Su during a podcast appearance Credit: Jemma Lucy Podcast 6 Ekin has never commented on a relationship with Georges but insisted she was single ahead of All Stars Credit: Getty 6 She and Curtis hit it off straight away Credit: Rex
Scottish Sun
04-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Scottish Sun
Ekin-Su's ex brands her ‘selfish and entitled' and reveals he's now in therapy after split
Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) EKIN-SU's Married At First Sight ex has hit out at her and blasted her in an explosive new podcast chat. Georges Berthoneau took aim at Ekin during an appearance on Jemma Lucy and Nathaniel Valentino's podcast. Sign up for the Entertainment newsletter Sign up 6 Ekin-Su's MAFS ex has claimed he is in therapy following his 'split' from the TV beauty Credit: Rex 6 The pair were known to be close before she signed up for Love Island All Stars Credit: Getty 6 Ekin found love with Curtis on All Stars but split with him three months later Credit: Rex The pair were understood to be dating in late 2024 ahead of Ekin-Su signing up to Love Island: All Stars. But things between the pair went sour and any hopes of a reconciliation after she left the villa have been thwarted amid Georges' accusations. Georges accused Ekin-Su of "messing him about" and suggested they were still in a relationship even when she signed up for the starry spin-off - something which Ekin has repeatedly and strenuously denied. Chatting to the podcast's hosts, Georges said: "I knew she was going on [Love Island All Stars] - we'd first spoke about it in October. "I was with her and she met my parents at Christmas. We did Boxing Day together and we did New Year's Eve. "I left hers on the 3rd of January and she flew [to South Africa] on the 4th. "I was the last person she rang before she went into filming. "She said, 'I'll come straight back to you and I already miss you'." He went on to insist that his split from Ekin-Su had left him needing therapy after she pursued a relationship with Curtis Pritchard during her time on the show. Georges said on the show: 'Like I started therapy I've never had therapy in my whole life and when I told her she went 'Oh that's good that you've gone to therapy I think we should all go.' Ekin-Su and Curtis Pritchard SPLIT three months after Love Island All Stars "I cried straight for I don't know how many nights or weeks. "So she was there [in Love Island] six weeks, I'd probably say I cried straight from week one or two to like. She didn't speak to me for eight days post show. She had her phone for eight days she didn't message me - maybe she did she went 'I'm overwhelmed'. 'She's the most selfish, entitled person I've ever met she didn't want anyone to know about me. 'Every big awards night that she ever went to who do you think was in her hotel room waiting for her." Ekin-Su and Curtis remained together for a few months after the programme but officially called it quits at the end of May following three months together. The pair's split was amicable with them sharing similar social media statements to confirm the sad news to fans. Ekin-Su has denied ever being in a serious relationship with Georges and told him that she intended to pursue a new relationship when signing up for Love Island All Stars. The Sun has contacted a representative for Ekin-Su for comment. 6 Georges hit out at Ekin-Su during a podcast appearance Credit: Jemma Lucy Podcast 6 Ekin has never commented on a relationship with Georges but insisted she was single ahead of All Stars Credit: Getty
Fashion Network
02-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Fashion Network
Staging activations, winning new friends, Salomon CEO Guillaume Meyzenq outlines the strategy
Salomon went a full-court press in Paris this just finished menswear season this week, with a fresh pop‑up, product unveilings and breakfasts – cool activations designed to reach new eyeballs and win new friends. With events that spread across Paris from the Marais to the Champs‑Élysées, the Alpine-born marque made the most of Paris's menswear scene, when the city is packed with editors, buyers and fully fledged fashionistas. The brand opened up the action with a Craft Reinvented bash in a pop‑up showroom space on Rue Turenne, where the brand proudly displayed many of their iconic shoes – like the new Gravel series – frequently disassembled the better to understand their high‑tech performance and advanced technology. Though historically an Alpine brand – founded in 1947 in the beautiful lakeside town of Annecy by father and son Georges and François Salomon – the marque pivoted into trail footwear three decades ago. Today, Salomon competes directly with the likes of Adidas or Nike in terms of performance and directional style, albeit focused far more on mountain lifestyle. Many people – this author included – first acquired a Salomon product when buying skis, since Georges and François revolutionized ski design back in the 1950s. The Marais pop‑up riffs on that with the brand's signature fire‑engine red seen in the S/Lab running shoe series. Since 2018, Salomon has sponsored the Golden Trails World Series, high‑altitude runs in Kobe, Japan, the Pyrenees or the Rockies. A new category known as XT‑Whisper featured some great urban trail shoes in bold biomorphic patterns. All told, a very buzzy event over the two-floor space enlivened by DJ sets from @neilessadi and @yayayoune, where one could eat remarkably good pizza cacio e pepe, washed down by a negroni or two. One day later, Salomon feted the launch of the latest S/Lab Pulsar 4 in the busy flagship at 42 Avenue des Champs‑Élysées, or 'the Champs,' as Parisians like to call it. The average price point of Salomon footwear is €150, which is premium, but special capsule partnerships can push prices well above €500. Salomon has had its corporate ups and downs, including a major rightsizing in 2005. That year, it was acquired by Finnish group Amer, which also controlled Wilson. More recently, in 2019, Salomon was acquired by Chinese‑Canadian conglomerate Anta Sports. Completing a busy week, on the season's opening day, designer Jah Jah featured his latest collab sneakers with Salomon in his show at Dover Street Market Paris. Throughout the season in Paris, the marque appeared in fine fettle, which is why we hunkered down with lean and avuncular CEO Guillaume Meyzenq over fresh orange juice in Le Progrès café in the Marais. Fashion Network: How did you first start at Salomon? Guillaume Meyzenq: 'I am from Grenoble, near Annecy. I grew up there and was very into skiing, though maybe not good enough for high-end competition. While completing my studies, I dreamed of joining Salomon, and got offered an internship back in 1994, joining Salomon in September 1996. And I never left! I started in sales, in the export department, and then became head of sales for the Middle East. Step by step, I did a lot of jobs, including Nordic ski business unit manager, R&D, and different marketing projects. Then some global roles, running footwear & bags. And for the past seven months, I have been CEO.' FN: Historically, how did Salomon pivot from ski to trail? GM: Salomon has always been driven by diversification — though we've done a lot of that diversification internally. We never go out and buy a brand. We started from bindings, moving to boots, then to skis, then Nordic skis, then snowboards, and then to footwear, a bit more than 30 years ago. The birth of footwear came because we had several winters without snow across the globe, where Salomon and all the ski makers were about to go bankrupt — back in '89 to '91. And Salomon had this cross-country boot, with a very specific outsole, and working with the pattern maker, we began making shoes. It was a hiking boot to begin with. Before that, we had diversified into apparel, particularly in snowboarding. Then, in the early 2000s, we decided that trail running would be our sport, which is when we really started to engage in product innovation and small communities. I have a picture of the first Marathon du Mont Blanc, back in the early 2000s, which had just 50 people — and Salomon was sponsoring it from the beginning. And now it's very well structured and had its latest Marathon du Mont Blanc this weekend. The second recent pivot was due to Covid, which didn't start trends but accelerated them. People living in the city began not using cars, but walking and cycling everywhere much more. And people discovered that outdoor gear is much better for this sort of activity — more comfortable and, in the rain, far drier. So, we mix very practical products with this emotional dream of the mountain — the idea of going outside amid beauty. We combine the two, which is about when we began doing some collaboration — first with Boris Bidjan (critically acclaimed for their tough tech aesthetic), and then the Paris boutique Broken Arm (with a rugged rebel look). And we are still working together. FN: Another key change, then? GM: It was a pivotal moment for Salomon when we had just opened in this city. We realized that the way we designed products and the way we told the story of authenticity was appealing to consumers. So today, we have a clear positioning, which is the modern mountain sports lifestyle. Salomon is very modern — inventing new practices in the mountains and looking at consumers — which is why we launched our Gravel this spring with a major campaign. FN: In terms of design, to my eye, you blend practicality with a certain biomorphic look? GM: All our design and creation is based on functionality. That's the quick‑lace system, and the centipede, which is the kinda' zig‑zag pattern. We produced everything ourselves, except for GORE‑TEX. FN: And the result is that you are far more shoe‑driven than ski‑driven? GM: In terms of product categories, today two‑thirds of our business is footwear, 22% is winter sport, and 10% is apparel. This percentage in winter sports seems small, but we are still the world leader when you add together skis, boards and cross‑country. FN: What is your annual turnover? GM: I won't reveal that as the Anta Sports company (which includes Salomon) is quoted on the NYSE. So, we have some limitations. But I can say that in 2024, we passed the bar of $1 billion in footwear. So, we are in a very good place. FN: What sort will 2025 be? GM: Double‑digit growth. Worldwide, we have some 200 stores of our own, the majority of them in China, and a further 300 franchise stores. Performing well. Additionally, in terms of wholesale business, we are in more than 10,000 sales points. FN: In 2019, the brand was acquired by a Chinese‑Canadian consortium, Anta. How did that change the way you operate? GM: It was a big accelerator for Salomon — it led us to rethink how we reach the consumer by opening stores in strategic places, like the Champs‑Élysées in 2024. Now we have a store in the Marais, Opéra, and five in Paris. We opened a third store in London and a second in Milan. We have one in NYC and want another. We want to open 10 stores in the U.S., in LA, Miami and others, and to have concept stores in places like Berlin or Copenhagen. The idea is that our core business is still B‑to‑B, but we want to create impact with high‑visibility spaces where you can express what's best about Salomon — driving awareness. The DNA of Salomon is the modern mountain sports lifestyle, and I think that is a very nice place to be. Lifestyle is not just about chilling out — it's about sport, exercise, going out for a walk or to dinner — and we accompany you then. I believe that the consumer is greatly inspired today by the outdoors and the mountains, by being healthy, being active and biking. That's a huge and growing community. That's our community.
Fashion Network
02-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Fashion Network
Staging activations, winning new friends, CEO Guillaume Meyzenq outlines the strategy
Salomon went a full-court press in Paris this just finished menswear season this week, with a fresh pop‑up, product unveilings and breakfasts – cool activations designed to reach new eyeballs and win new friends. With events that spread across Paris from the Marais to the Champs‑Élysées, the Alpine-born marque made the most of Paris's menswear scene, when the city is packed with editors, buyers and fully fledged fashionistas. The brand opened up the action with a Craft Reinvented bash in a pop‑up showroom space on Rue Turenne, where the brand proudly displayed many of their iconic shoes – like the new Gravel series – frequently disassembled the better to understand their high‑tech performance and advanced technology. Though historically an Alpine brand – founded in 1947 in the beautiful lakeside town of Annecy by father and son Georges and François Salomon – the marque pivoted into trail footwear three decades ago. Today, Salomon competes directly with the likes of Adidas or Nike in terms of performance and directional style, albeit focused far more on mountain lifestyle. Many people – this author included – first acquired a Salomon product when buying skis, since Georges and François revolutionized ski design back in the 1950s. The Marais pop‑up riffs on that with the brand's signature fire‑engine red seen in the S/Lab running shoe series. Since 2018, Salomon has sponsored the Golden Trails World Series, high‑altitude runs in Kobe, Japan, the Pyrenees or the Rockies. A new category known as XT‑Whisper featured some great urban trail shoes in bold biomorphic patterns. All told, a very buzzy event over the two-floor space enlivened by DJ sets from @neilessadi and @yayayoune, where one could eat remarkably good pizza cacio e pepe, washed down by a negroni or two. One day later, Salomon feted the launch of the latest S/Lab Pulsar 4 in the busy flagship at 42 Avenue des Champs‑Élysées, or 'the Champs,' as Parisians like to call it. The average price point of Salomon footwear is €150, which is premium, but special capsule partnerships can push prices well above €500. Salomon has had its corporate ups and downs, including a major rightsizing in 2005. That year, it was acquired by Finnish group Amer, which also controlled Wilson. More recently, in 2019, Salomon was acquired by Chinese‑Canadian conglomerate Anta Sports. Completing a busy week, on the season's opening day, designer Jah Jah featured his latest collab sneakers with Salomon in his show at Dover Street Market Paris. Throughout the season in Paris, the marque appeared in fine fettle, which is why we hunkered down with lean and avuncular CEO Guillaume Meyzenq over fresh orange juice in Le Progrès café in the Marais. Fashion Network: How did you first start at Salomon? Guillaume Meyzenq: 'I am from Grenoble, near Annecy. I grew up there and was very into skiing, though maybe not good enough for high-end competition. While completing my studies, I dreamed of joining Salomon, and got offered an internship back in 1994, joining Salomon in September 1996. And I never left! I started in sales, in the export department, and then became head of sales for the Middle East. Step by step, I did a lot of jobs, including Nordic ski business unit manager, R&D, and different marketing projects. Then some global roles, running footwear & bags. And for the past seven months, I have been CEO.' FN: Historically, how did Salomon pivot from ski to trail? GM: Salomon has always been driven by diversification — though we've done a lot of that diversification internally. We never go out and buy a brand. We started from bindings, moving to boots, then to skis, then Nordic skis, then snowboards, and then to footwear, a bit more than 30 years ago. The birth of footwear came because we had several winters without snow across the globe, where Salomon and all the ski makers were about to go bankrupt — back in '89 to '91. And Salomon had this cross-country boot, with a very specific outsole, and working with the pattern maker, we began making shoes. It was a hiking boot to begin with. Before that, we had diversified into apparel, particularly in snowboarding. Then, in the early 2000s, we decided that trail running would be our sport, which is when we really started to engage in product innovation and small communities. I have a picture of the first Marathon du Mont Blanc, back in the early 2000s, which had just 50 people — and Salomon was sponsoring it from the beginning. And now it's very well structured and had its latest Marathon du Mont Blanc this weekend. The second recent pivot was due to Covid, which didn't start trends but accelerated them. People living in the city began not using cars, but walking and cycling everywhere much more. And people discovered that outdoor gear is much better for this sort of activity — more comfortable and, in the rain, far drier. So, we mix very practical products with this emotional dream of the mountain — the idea of going outside amid beauty. We combine the two, which is about when we began doing some collaboration — first with Boris Bidjan (critically acclaimed for their tough tech aesthetic), and then the Paris boutique Broken Arm (with a rugged rebel look). And we are still working together. FN: Another key change, then? GM: It was a pivotal moment for Salomon when we had just opened in this city. We realized that the way we designed products and the way we told the story of authenticity was appealing to consumers. So today, we have a clear positioning, which is the modern mountain sports lifestyle. Salomon is very modern — inventing new practices in the mountains and looking at consumers — which is why we launched our Gravel this spring with a major campaign. FN: In terms of design, to my eye, you blend practicality with a certain biomorphic look? GM: All our design and creation is based on functionality. That's the quick‑lace system, and the centipede, which is the kinda' zig‑zag pattern. We produced everything ourselves, except for GORE‑TEX. FN: And the result is that you are far more shoe‑driven than ski‑driven? GM: In terms of product categories, today two‑thirds of our business is footwear, 22% is winter sport, and 10% is apparel. This percentage in winter sports seems small, but we are still the world leader when you add together skis, boards and cross‑country. FN: What is your annual turnover? GM: I won't reveal that as the Anta Sports company (which includes Salomon) is quoted on the NYSE. So, we have some limitations. But I can say that in 2024, we passed the bar of $1 billion in footwear. So, we are in a very good place. FN: What sort will 2025 be? GM: Double‑digit growth. Worldwide, we have some 200 stores of our own, the majority of them in China, and a further 300 franchise stores. Performing well. Additionally, in terms of wholesale business, we are in more than 10,000 sales points. FN: In 2019, the brand was acquired by a Chinese‑Canadian consortium, Anta. How did that change the way you operate? GM: It was a big accelerator for Salomon — it led us to rethink how we reach the consumer by opening stores in strategic places, like the Champs‑Élysées in 2024. Now we have a store in the Marais, Opéra, and five in Paris. We opened a third store in London and a second in Milan. We have one in NYC and want another. We want to open 10 stores in the U.S., in LA, Miami and others, and to have concept stores in places like Berlin or Copenhagen. The idea is that our core business is still B‑to‑B, but we want to create impact with high‑visibility spaces where you can express what's best about Salomon — driving awareness. The DNA of Salomon is the modern mountain sports lifestyle, and I think that is a very nice place to be. Lifestyle is not just about chilling out — it's about sport, exercise, going out for a walk or to dinner — and we accompany you then. I believe that the consumer is greatly inspired today by the outdoors and the mountains, by being healthy, being active and biking. That's a huge and growing community. That's our community.
