W. L. Gore & Associates (Gore) and Pep Guardiola announced today a four-year partnership where Guardiola will globally represent the GORE-TEX® brand and Gore branded apparel and footwear. The trainer of football club FC Bayern München, Guardiola, is a long-time fan of the functional outdoor ingredient brand. He frequently wears GORE-TEX® jackets and shoes in his daily life, be it for outdoor sports activities or in the city.
After visiting Gore’s facilities, Guardiola was impressed with the passion, dedication, and quality standards that Gore, the inventor of waterproof, windproof and breathable products, applies to the development, testing and production of GORE-TEX® products. Pep Guardiola will serve as the lead spokesperson for GORE-TEX® branded products and his image will be included in print and online communication as well as in retail promotion material for Gore fabrics products.
“As an athlete and coach, perfectionism and vision play a crucial role and the same characteristics apply to GORE-TEX® products. Therefore I’m happy to represent this outstanding brand,” says Guardiola at the European headquarters of Gore near Munich, Germany.
Pep Guardiola is a success-oriented individual, always exploring new ideas based on a thorough understanding of as many details as possible. “Only if you devote time and have a genuine passion for a subject, will you continuously improve every day. This is hard work but it eventually leads to exceptional results,” says Guardiola. “And this dedication to quality and innovation is exactly what impresses me about the GORE-TEX® brand,” he continues.
In fact, at Gore it is all about such values: founders Bill and Vieve Gore’s vision was to create exceptional products that offer a unique value to customers. “GORE-TEX® products are the result of dedicated and passionate efforts. Our goal is to is to constantly push the boundaries of innovation and to provide products that offer high performance for consumers, so that they can experience fascinating moments and are able to stay out for longer”, says Christian Langer, global leader Fabrics Division at Gore. “The partnership with Pep Guardiola is a perfect match between our company´s and brand´s core values and Guardiola’s professional philosophy and track record. We are very pleased to have our GORE-TEX® brand represented by this globally respected personality,” he continues.
Functional GORE-TEX® products for Pep Guardiola
As an Ingredient brand, Gore licenses many leading brands in areas such as mountain sports like Arc’teryx, Adidas, The North Face, Salomon, Lowa or Timberland as well as casual, fashion & lifestyle brands like Camper, Clarks, Ecco, Galvin Green, Herno, Prada, Sail Racing, Visvim or White Mountaineering. These brands manufacture products with GORE-TEX® fabric. Over the next four years Pep Guardiola will be equipped with GORE-TEX® and Gore branded jackets, shoes and gloves. “Whenever there are weather conditions that require protection from rain, snow or wind, I have the best partner”, says Pep Guardiola. Gore will use Guardiola’s image in its global print and online campaign when promoting the GORE-TEX® brand and GORE-TEX® branded products.
Interview:
Question: Why did you agree on this partnership?
Pep Guardiola “For many years my family and I have worn GORE-TEX® jackets and shoes in our daily life, be it for outdoor sports activities or in the city. I like the philosophy of the company and therefore I’m happy to be a spokesperson for the brand.
Question: Why do the philosophies match?
P.G.: “I am a success-oriented person with high expectations on myself and on others. Perfectionism, passion and dedication are my energy sources and what leads me to reach my goals. From what I have learned about Gore and how they engineer and test their products, I feel we are sharing this value set.
Question: What exactly does perfection mean to you?”
P.G.: “Only if you devote time and passion for a subject, you will become better every day. This is hard work but eventually it will lead to exceptional results. Transferred to Gore this means: before a GORE-TEX® jacket will be sold in the stores, the jacket will be exposed to about 100 tests, be it washing, stretching, scratching, rain or breathability and ultimately field testing. I’m very impressed by this tenacity for getting it perfect.
Question: Why are you enthusiastic about GORE-TEX® products?
P.G.: “Gore is the inventor of functional outdoor wear and throughout their history they brought many innovations to the market. They have a deep understanding of functional outerwear and their working style is precise and detail oriented. Consumers like me benefit every day from these innovations when being outdoors.
Question: Will you wear GORE-TEX® jackets and shoes?
P.G.: “I already wear GORE-TEX® jackets and shoes. In the past I wore the products mainly when doing outdoor activities in unpredictable weather conditions but I learned that there are also fashion and lifestyle partners of Gore that produce very nice citywear styles. So I look forward to wearing jackets and shoes made with GORE-TEX® materials on other occasions all year round.
Question: Which kind of outdoor sports do you participate in other than football?
P.G.: “I like to play golf, not in the rain but on nice days. However, if it happens to rain, I could easily finish my 18-hole-game by using GORE-TEX® jackets and shoes.”
Question: Will we see P.G. hiking or climbing with GORE-TEX® athletes such as Edurne Pasaban or David Lama?
P.G.: “I admire Edurne, the first female to climb all 14 8.000er peaks, and for sure also David Lama for his extreme climbing skills. While I have full respect for their achievements, for the time being, I have no such plans to climb a mountain.”
Question: Regarding sustainability: what impression do you have of Gore being a responsible company?
P.G.: “I had a chance to read through their latest ‘Responsibility Update 2015’ in which they describe their activities. I must say that it is really impressive how much effort the company puts behind programs to reduce the environmental footprint.
INFO: GORE-TEX®
