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Sophie Lacoste Dournel | Owner and Board Member of Fusalp

Interviewed by Irène Toporkoff

We welcome Sophie Lacoste Dournel, Owner and Board Member of Fusalp for a raw conversation on the turning points in her life that got her to where she is now and what drives her to keep going.

             

After graduating from Oxford in England and Dauphine in Paris, Sophie Lacoste Dournel entered the Lacoste SA board in 2004, where she remained until 2014. Sophie proudly carries the name of the eponymous clothing brand started and made famous by her grandfather and French tennis star René Lacoste. In 2006, paying homage to her grandfather, whom she was very close to, she created the René Lacoste Foundation which helps young people find a new path through sport. She chaired the foundation until 2014.

After graduating from ERACM (French National Drama School) in 2003, Sophie also performed as an actress and directed her own theatre company for almost 10 years. Equally passionate about both the artistic dimension and the political and social implication of her vocation, she drew from her artistic journey the roots of her philanthropic ambition.

Sophie is now President of the Porosus Endowment Fund, a family fund created in late 2012 dedicated to the emergence of young talents in the artistic and sports fields. This Fund works in particular by providing writing grants to directors of feature and short films, production grants to theatre companies as well as grants to students in national art schools. It also supports sports projects including golf, horse riding, surfing and dancing.

After a successful exit from the Lacoste family business in 2012, Sophie and her brother Philippe decided to embark on a new entrepreneurial adventure. In December 2013, they purchased Fusalp, a company to which Sophie is an Owner and Board Member. The challenge was to revive the brand in France and abroad and establish its legitimacy on the slopes and in the city. The Fusalp experience has been incredibly successful to date with a fivefold growth to 30 million euros in yearly sales for 2019.

We hope you enjoy our raw conversation with Sophie. Editing and sound mixing of this episode was done by Clara Ernoult.