Relic of the snowboard boom Otto's wants to relaunch the Alprausch fashion brand

Otto's owner Marc Ineichen has bought the brand rights to the Alprausch streetwear label. He wants to further develop the brand, which was particularly popular among snowboarders in the 2000s.

Two Swiss brands could hardly be further apart: here Alprausch, the Zurich streetwear from snowboarding pioneer Andy Tanner, and there the discount chain Otto's.

However, since spring 2024, the brand rights to Alprausch have belonged to Marc Ineichen, owner of the remaining stock stores with the index finger in the logo, as the Handelszeitung found out. The previous owner has put them up for sale.

Cult brand from the 2000s

But first to Alprausch, the brand that Generation X Swiss people will probably remember. Especially those who snowboarded in the nineties and 2000s. There is even a photo of Victoria Beckham wearing an Alprausch jacket in the snow, albeit without any sports equipment.

The enterprising Andy Tanner, who had already set up the surf, skate and snowboard stores called Beach Mountain, soon expanded the Alprausch range to include everyday fashion.

Another thing that sets the Zurich native apart: He knows when it's time to part with a baby. He sold the Beach Mountain chain of stores to Jelmoli back in the mid-nineties, when snowboarding was in its heyday.

At the end of 2023, the Alprausch website suddenly announces that the brand is taking an extended summer break. In March 2024, the Handelszeitung found out that a company owned by Marc Ineichen was the new owner of Alprausch. The brand was up for sale, Ineichen confirms in the Handelszeitung, so he struck.

Perhaps there will be an Alprausch caquelon

Now, for the first time, the man in charge of Otto's has provided information about his plans for Alprausch and how he intends to establish himself in a higher price segment than the remaining stock stores.

The new collection has already been created by one of the new owner's teams. For the time being, Alprausch fashion is only available online, but he has already received inquiries from sports retailers, Ineichen told the Handelszeitung newspaper. In its best years, Alprausch was available in over 500 stores in ten countries, the "Handelszeitung" quotes an article in the NZZ from 2006.

He could imagine marketing not only textiles and accessories under the Alprausch label in future, but also other products "right up to the fondue caquelon". He is fascinated by the emotions that the brand triggers - even if it is more the over-40s who know Alprausch at all.

It is a small team that is now taking its first steps with the label. Of course they wanted to make something of it. But the recipe is to simply give it a try, says the entrepreneur. If it doesn't work - Ineichen doesn't specify what exactly he means by this - he can manage sales via his own channels, i.e. Otto's. He is then back on his traditional terrain.

And what will Andy Tanner do when he reaches retirement age in the near future? According to social media, he has a new project in addition to the event hall he has been running for decades: he accepts orders for illuminated signs online and produces them.