© ANNE BEAUGE 33684713372

Marinière, raincoat or traditional Miki hat: all the classics of Breton fashion are in the Mousqueton collection. The clothing brand, which has just opened a store in the heart of Lorient, is the official equipment supplier of Retour à La Base. And it is a first experience in offshore racing for the Morbihan company which, with its colorful marine clothing, will outfit all the teams for the solo race from Martinique to Lorient. Stéphane Brault, Managing Director, and Marie Languille, Web Marketing Manager, tell us more about this partnership.

You are already partners of nautical events but this is the first time that you are the technical supplier to an offshore race: why La Retour À La Base?

Stéphane: Historically, we used to sponsor more traditional sailing events like Gulf Week or more recently, the Loire festival with the Gabart. But Mousqueton is not just about traditional sailing, we revisit the marine wardrobe with modern clothing because the sea and sailing speak to us! Our headquarters is based in Plescop, in Morbihan, near Lorient. Due to being so close we were immediately interested in La Retour À La Base

In mid-July, we opened a long-awaited store in Lorient. We also plan to participate in the Christmas market in mid-December to tie in with this new store.

How will this collaboration between Mousqueton and La Retour À La Base work?

Marie: All the organization and host teams in Lorient and Fort-de-France will wear our clothes, thus providing a significant visibility to our brand. And we will try to give a little nod to La Retour À La Base on our stand at the Christmas market, so that visitors can get a souvenir of the race. And the skippers will not be left out! We will offer them Mousqueton hats bearing the brand’s image to continue the brand building.

« Participate in the development of Lorient and its profile »

As a Breton brand, is there a particular pride in being a partner of a race that finishes in Lorient?

Stéphane: Yes, we like to highlight the local fabrics and fashions, it makes sense to us. We discovered Lorient via the FCL, which is one of our partners. Our teams are increasingly based in Lorient, which has welcomed us nicely. It is truly a city in full change, in full evolution. Participating in the development of Lorient and its growing profile makes sense for us, because we are from Morbihan. Participating in all these new developments and all these challenges to highlight Morbihan is really important for Mousqueton.

You who have always put the sailor at the heart of your creations, what is your relationship to offshore racing?

Stéphane: It is new for us! We started as part of the Route du Rhum, with Nestenn, a Class40 with whom we collaborated for the first time. It was ‘lite’ kind of low key, the Mousqueton logo was on the mast, it was the beginning. We also sponsored Basile Gautier who wanted to do the Mini Transat but who ultimately did the Tour de France a la Voile where he finished second this summer.

There is an evolution in the race, first the Route du Rhum with a Class40 then the Mini 6.50 project, to move to a higher dimension with IMOCAs, the Vendée Globe boats. Is this a great development, a rise in power?

Stéphane: Mousqueton is about networking and meeting people and sharing,  we build like that. People meet us and when contact goes well, we are loyal, it’s our way of evolving. It’s a story of people and meeting and evolving with them  There is also the local network, these strong meetings which build trust and ensure that we are loyal to our customers and our suppliers. This is an important value for us!

And more personally, I love the West Indies, so Lorient — the West Indies, I find it great! (Laughs)