Every year comes with its challenges, ambitions and achievements. Today, we are pleased to share the best success stories of our two brands, Flaneurz and Slades. We take you behind the scenes, to discover the talents that make our detachable roller skates more visible.

Amaury Cibot


/A WIDER RANGE OF PRODUCTS

 

At the Flânerie (in Pantin, near Pairs), the production workshop of the brand Flaneurz, some great new products were  unveiled this year. Among the most striking is  the return of the Iconic series, which was out of stock for several months due to the Covid-19 crisis and the difficulties of restocking. The Marketing and Supply Chain team has redesigned the series with new materials, and it was available for sale in June. We are also developing  our grips by adding the brand logo, and launching our own wheels.

At the Factory (Grenoble), Slades' workshop, we are receiving  new accessories which expand the assortment, such as  the black unlocking key or socks.

Finally, we have worked on the inter-compatibility of our two brands for the Change Your Shoes offer. With a rolling part, whether it is Flaneurz or Slades, you have the possibility to order a new shoe, regardless of  the brand. With the support of the Marketing, E-commerce, Logistics and IT teams, we launched the Change Your Shoes Slades and rethought  the way to order this product, making sure that your new shoe is always compatible with your rolling part. The communication highlighted this inter-compatibility in a video shot in Grenoble.

 

The Finch / Amaury Cibot

 

/THE BEALING OF FLANEURZ

As a parent brand, Flaneurz is creative, innovative and ever-evolving. This year, our three ambassadors, Nicola Torelli, Sarah Haywood and The Stuttering Skater, were the faces of the brand. We produced several campaigns to illustrate the use of  detachable roller skates in everyone’s  daily life. We co-produced a lot of content with our partners, some of which went viral. Ari strolling in New-York has been seen  by more than 16 million internet users, and Clara in Seoul has surprised more than 18 million Tik Tok users. Around the world, we have chosen 78 personalities to collaborate with and make Flaneurz innovation visible to their communities. In order to work with them in the best way, we have led the project to implement the affiliation, carried by the Communication department. This system allows us to pay the content creators according to the sales he/she makes.

We keep launching collections, allowing you to regularly discover new models. These campaigns can be (re)-discovered in the lookbook of the year 2022. 

Our website is ever-evolving and new features added throughout the year, to allow you to better discover the product. Your digital experience is at the core of the changes made by the Marketing and IT departments.


Finally, the brand participated in a collaboration between Flipper's Roller Boogie Palace, founded by Liberty Ross, and the artist Dr. Dre. To celebrate the 30th anniversary of the iconic album Chronic, Flippers and the rapper have designed an exclusive line of roller skates, in the image of both the album and Dre. They asked us to produce the 250 pairs of detachable roller skates of the collaboration. It is the timeless and favorite sneaker of the singer, the Nike Air Force 1, that was transformed and equipped with a Premium series. Grip, wheels, key, and several elements have been redesigned for this collaboration. The model was revealed on November 10th, for the opening of the new London rink Flippers.

 

Demba / The Finch

 

/THE RISE OF SLADES

Slades was officially launched in November 2021. Since then, it has continued to grow  and expanded across the world, with many new products. The faces of the brand are Junior Jmss, Clover Skates and Zoé Roller Skates. Junior took us behind the scenes of the production at the Factory in this video. 106 other brand representatives collaborate with us on a daily basis. Together, we democratize detachable roller skates in their most affordable version.

This year, Slades invested Tik Tok, where our community managers took pleasure in creating content that meet the codes of the platform. Abigaïl and then Elora worked on making this network grow, which currently counts 175 000 subscribers, and several videos with more than one million views. All these actions contribute to our expansion and it is in 70 countries that the brand spread in 2022.

We also started our adventure on the marketplaces by joining the one of Decathlon, one of France favorite companies. By adding Slades to their catalog, we propose our vision of roller skating as well as our innovation. We are working to join other partner sites during  2023 to allow you to find Slades more easily.

 

 

Flaneurz

 

/OUR SAVOIR-FAIRE, THE PRODUCTION

 

The Operations department, which includes the two production units, the Supply chain and the Engineering office, is undergoing major changes. Processes, tooling, calculation of service rates and performance indicators for both productions: techniques are being refined. 

On the Flaneurz side, we are redesigning the chassis (the interface where our male mechanical system is located, attached to the plate). Switching to 100% recycled ABS made in France, new assembly processes and optimization of production time are the challenges of this new chassis. The tracing, key step of the transformation of your sneakers, where we determine the future location of the female mechanical systems, is also reviewed. A machine has been designed to improve the comfort of the operator, to optimize production time and to make this step more reliable.

Hugo, in charge of the Flaneurz production, coordinated  the production of 250 pairs as part of the collaboration with Flippers x Dr. Dre  in parallel with our classic production. For five months, the workshop and the team were in the state of turmoil  and succeeded in this major challenge.

On the Slades side, where production is blowing out its first candle, the challenge was to increase the pace and optimize production flows to ensure rapid delivery of products. Mission accomplished for Clervie, in charge of the workshop, and the operators!

 

Flaneurz / Fabrice Bueno

 

/EVENTS - BRINGING THE BRAND TO LIFE

 

Events are part of Flaneurz' DNA. 

In July, our association Flaneurz Roller Skating Club organized the first edition of the Rendez-vous In Paris, an event that aims to bring together skaters and dancers: rides, workshops, talks and dance parties. More than 1000 people participated in the event, danced and conveyed the energy of the roller community. The success of this event made it possible to prepare the second edition, which will be held from June 23 to 25, 2023. All information will be communicated on the Instagram account of the event. 

In September, the teams, together with the Flaneurz Roller Skating Club, participated in a major event, well-known in the world of skating and roller dance: Skate Love Barcelona. On this occasion, skaters from all over the world discovered Slades detachable roller skates.

At the end of the year, the book « Roller : Vis ta meilleure vie » (Roller: Live your best life) is published, written by Najete Kada, president of the association. It is a guide to roller skating and all the aspects of this sport, which also focuses on this community. We celebrated its publication at La Flânerie, where you could discover it and get it.

In December, we will be at La Fabrique du Père Noël in the 4th arrondissement of Paris with Slades detachable roller skates. This is the first event that allows the general public to encounter  our soft mobility solution.

 

Flaneurz

 

/THE COMPANY, OUR EVOLUTIONS

This year again, the team is growing and diversifying. A new B2B department was created to implement the Slades distribution strategy via resellers. Today, more than 40 resellers allow you to see, touch and try the product, everywhere in the world. In Europe, Asia, North and Central America, our relays are multiplying. Making detachable roller skates accessible is the major mission of this new department.

Some talents left us, notably Johanna Sanchez-Laurenté and Margot Pasquet, who have been working in the Communication Department since respectively 2016 and 2017. Others are joining us: let's welcome Léo-Paul, Héloïse, Hugo, Lou (and his service dog Prosper), Elora, Béatrice, Pierre, Axel and Romain.

The team always enjoys getting together for activities such as dance classes, clip-on and clip-off competitions, seminars or good lunches as part of our Family Fun Day, which resumed again in 2022. 

The company is constantly evolving, and we are looking for talents in different areas. If you're looking for adventure on detachable roller skates, check out all of our opportunities on Welcome To The Jungle. Write your own story in the heart of the Flânerie, where our offices are located.

The whole Flaneurz team wishes you a flourishing year, full of joy and crazy projects. For our part, we hope that our 2023 news will continue to motivate you with as much pleasure as we have in sharing them.

 

Written by Laurie