OUR HISTORY
CiLAO was born in 2003 in Chamonix, from the meeting between two mountain enthusiasts and a trip to Reunion Island. Cilaos comes from the Malagasy Tsilaosa and means "that we do not leave". It is from this philosophy that we derive our ambition.
OUR GOAL? Preserve the athlete in time as in distance. Since our creation, our desire has been to create and manufacture products dedicated to sports performance, which combine comfort, practicality and reliability. Marc Menetrier, founder of our brand has always sought to understand the needs to offer adapted solutions. It is in collaboration with mountain professionals that every day we work and progress on our products.
From our research and development, we have been able to patent technologies such as our double-strand shoulder straps® and our MOOV® belt. The overall benefit is to allow athletes to extend their effort and improve their performance! Refined and minimalist, our equipment brings lightness and reliability.
We now offer two ranges: outdoor and adventure parks. The outdoor range offers a wide choice of backpacks and accessories dedicated to mountaineering, ski touring, trekking and expeditions. We also offer some more urban models since 2021.
As for adventure parks, we manufacture personal protective equipment such as custom-made lanyards, harnesses and carrier bags.
A FRENCH AND EUROPEAN MANUFACTURE
Our social responsibility: 100% French and European production. We are one of the last manufacturers to produce in France and Europe in our field of activity.
Because designing, testing and manufacturing our products locally seems to us the best way to guarantee flawless quality. It is also an ethical commitment and a desire to reduce the ecological footprint of our bags.
Develop innovative concepts justified and tested by working professionals. Beyond any marketing action, it is the product that must convince: try, approve and recommend it!
OUR PRODUCTION WORKSHOPS
CiLAO is a proprietary brand of the MKM COUTURE group.
Since 1993 MKM COUTURE has offices and a production workshop in Annecy, France. It is in this French workshop that our CILAO backpacks are produced as well as our custom-made lanyards for adventure parks.
In 1998 MKM COUTURE moved to Slovakia and was born MKM SK. The workshop is located in Veľký Šariš near Prešov. It is in this second workshop that accessories and products for adventure parks are manufactured.
To learn more about MKM and know-how, it's here.
20 YEARS OF EXPERIENCE
For the occasion, the work of our new premises has begun and we will move to the Altaïs area, still in Annecy, in the fall.
Every year, we expand our ranges and modify our products to offer you optimal comfort. Our collaborations with mountain professionals and athletes, our research and especially your feedback and suggestions, allow us to offer you quality, comfortable and innovative products.
It is the passion and exchanges with the athletes that drive our team on a daily basis. Today in 2023 we celebrate our 20th anniversary. CiLAO is a small team with big projects.
