Smart, stylish and sustainable products for small and big adventurers.

Founder, managing director, designer and the voice behind MeroMero, this multi-tasking powerhouse also handles product development, production and logistics… along with lots of other fun (and messy) tasks.

Over the years, she’s built a dream team around her to delegate and help grow the brand.

In a previous life, Hélène worked in communications and marketing (Patagonia Europe). She’s also been a press officer, web consultant, freelance writer, photographer, and even a ski instructor.

This high-energy human is passionate about the mountains, skiing, cycling, art and, guess what: backpacks!

Oh, and almost forgot… Hélène is also a (solo) mum of two dragons.

Susi is German but spent a some of her best years in Annecy, where she met Hélène. They met back in 2009 while both working at Patagonia Europe’s headquarters: Susi in product management, Hélène in marketing.

After stops in Zurich and Munich, she eventually settled in Freiburg, bringing along her bags, van, and kids “to be closer to the ocean,” as she says.

She’s the one who encouraged Hélène to create MeroMero and continues to support her on a daily basis.

Today, Susi leads sales development across German-speaking markets and in export. She also works closely with Hélène on overall strategy, trade shows, and plenty of other adventures.

The resident geek (there’s always one). He takes care of the website, the online store, API connections, SEO, ads, but also bugs… and regularly reminds us not to “upload oversized images or the site will crawl.”

Hélène crossed paths with him in 2016 at a business incubator, back when he was launching his own connected devices startup.

Since then, he’s been running his web agency, Créative Altitude, driving a Tesla (may God forgive him), and still manages to log more than 100,000 meters of vertical gain every ski touring season.

He really proves he’s got both the time and the legs (those who know, know).

Far more than just an administrative and sales assistant, Daphné is Hélène’s right hand (and arguably her left brain).

Pre-orders, restocks, B2B delivery tracking, invoice follow-ups, payments, expense reports, bank reconciliations… She keeps everything so organised that the accountant has (almost) nothing left to do!

An indispensable and truly invaluable member of the team, supporting the team day to day (especially Hélène).

When she’s not taking care of her other clients, Daphné is also developing her own family brand of leather wallets, 100% handmade (by her husband Fred) in Haute-Savoie: L’Art Feuille.

Aleks (with a K) is the team’s quiet strength, and the undisputed queen of organisation. She supports Hélène in optimising processes across the board (customer service, production, overall organisation, CSR, environmental footprint calculations, carbon assessments, new ERP implementation…).

Her background as a costume designer, stylist, and pattern maker (notably at Millet/Eider, where she met Hélène in 2014) also allows her to support the team in product development and production.

And because she’s packed with talent and loves to share it, Aleks launched Zéphir Studio to support your own creative projects.

An independent graphic designer and art director, Claire supports MeroMero’s communication.

Photoshoot organisation, photo retouching, graphic design, workbooks… she’s taken all of that off Hélène’s plate (and that was no small feat!).

Their collaboration goes way back: as early as 2012, at Patagonia, Hélène asked Claire to step in during her maternity leave to handle graphic design.

And fun fact: Claire is actually the creator of the MeroMero logo.

After-Sales Service, heeeey! Emilie is our ray of sunshine, our daily dose of vitamins, our feel-good colleague, just the right person to handle customer service and answer (almost) all your questions.

She also manages after-sales service and repair requests with our workshop partners in France and across Europe.

And because Emilie is also a freelance event manager (EM), she helps Hélène organise certain events.

Hélène first met Emilie in 2018 at Annecy Base Camp, when MeroMero still had its offices there. Emilie was working at Outdoor Sports Valley, managing members of this “mountain” cluster.

Mélanie, known as “Mel,” is our community manager. She is responsible for shaping the digital strategy, creating content for social media, and managing ambassadors and influencers. She has taken over on Instagram, where Hélène could no longer keep up (at the end of the day, it really is a full-time job!).

This former figure skater turned kitesurfing enthusiast, but it was in the mountains, in Les Gets, that she decided to put down roots with her son. It was up there, out on a mountain bike, that she met Hélène in 2024.

Self-employed and fiercely creative, Mel brings her expertise to fun, committed brands... much like herself!

“And why not us?” That’s how they approached Hélène in 2020, offering to grow the brand in the French market.

Since then, MeroMero has been "everywhere". Well, in all the right places like Galeries Lafayette, independent boutiques, and still at Au Vieux Campeur, just as it was from day one.

And yet, Delphine and Fabrice aren't outdoor sports specialists, and that's exactly why we love them. These fashion-mad "Parisians" (now happily exiled to Bordeaux) set up their agency, One To One Paris, with a clear focus: distributing brands they believe in and that are genuinely committed to sustainability.

Hélène first met Nico at Patagonia over 15 years ago. He was a sales rep for the Netherlands; she was working in retail marketing, among other things.

Then in 2023, he was not only thrilled to bump into her at the MeroMero stand at ISPO in Munich, but also gobsmacked to learn that the brand was actually hers. Just like that, he told her he'd love to distribute it.

Today, Nico is developing MeroMero across the Benelux (Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg) alongside some of the most prestigious names in the sector.

Here too, things came together rather naturally and our lucky stars brought us together with Petra and Ralph, a couple of sales agents who are as cheerful as they are tattooed.

These southerners from Germany, passionate about skiing, mountain biking and gravel riding, have built their agency and product portfolio entirely in their own image. They distribute committed, functional and innovative brands across the German outdoor, cycling and lifestyle market with real flair and professionalism.

We couldn't have imagined a better fit for MeroMero in Germany. Our partnership is only just getting started, but we've got a very good feeling about this one.

Mathieu's story is another one of those happy coincidences. He'd been spotting MeroMero bags on the backs of people in Switzerland and on the shelves of shops in France.

We had a mutual friend. He was on the lookout for a new backpack brand to distribute in Switzerland. We said "Why not?" And just like that, our partnership was born. And soon you'll be able to find MeroMero bags in shops across Switzerland!

The story begins in an apartment without a lift. In 2014, after years at Patagonia and a Bachelor's in Technical Textiles, Hélène turned a simple idea into a university project called the "Clem&Léon" bag, the foundation of "smart products for active parents."

What began as a university project turned into an entrepreneurial adventure. It took more than two years of R&D, prototyping, testing, standards compliance, market research, meetings, fundraising, trademark registrations and filing of company bylaws… to finally officially launch MeroMero in 2016.

In July 2016, in the midst of her market research, Hélène went to Paris to present her "Clem&Léon" prototype to the buyer and owner of Au Vieux Campeur. She left the meeting with lots of useful information… and an order for 40 bags "for Christmas"!!!

Hélène had no choice but to launch a production run of 200 bags (in Europe) for delivery in November.

Since then, there has been a second "surprise" baby, difficulties, trade shows, pivots (as they say in the startup world) and always that desire to believe in it, to create value and share it.

At the end of 2018, exhausted by life as a mother and entrepreneur, Hélène began to question her "made in Europe" business model. Margins were too low, products too expensive… She was heading for disaster and considered giving up.

But once again, the stars aligned and guided her to Vietnam, where she found her new production partner, and where MeroMero products are still manufactured today.

As the first lockdown ended, everything accelerated. People's desire for nature, freedom and sustainable mobility exploded. Cycling became a way of life again, not just a hobby, and MeroMero products naturally found their place in this new momentum.

Delphine and Fabrice came on board to develop the brand in France. This rapid growth was an opportunity, but also the beginning of new challenges for a very small company.

Growth inevitably means a surge in workload. Hélène realised that a turning point had been reached: MeroMero could no longer rely solely on her, her energy and her resourcefulness.

The venture gradually became more of a team effort, though an unconventional one, as she took the gamble of working exclusively with freelancers… and friends!

This was a major entrepreneurial step: learning to delegate, investing in skills and structuring the business so the brand could continue to grow… without burning out.

After several years in incubators, MeroMero set up its base at Les Forges de Cran-Gevrier, as part of the LaRonde collective. It was a wonderful idea: to breathe new life into a former industrial site by bringing together entrepreneurs, artisans, artists and local organisations. A creative, committed and deeply human ecosystem.But for political reasons, it never worked out at that site, and the collective had to leave.

Less than 500 metres away, Hélène found the perfect office within the Papeterie - Image Factory. With former neighbours from Les Forges, a new professional co-working space was born: the CoolCats studio! An office-showroom for MeroMero, a co-working space for a cheerful group of image-makers (Alex, PE, Richard, Adeline), a photo studio, and even a ping-pong table that serves as much for lunch breaks as for meetings or impromptu matches.

Having been on her own for a long time, Hélène has surrounded herself with the best over the years. Quentin, Susi, Daphné, Aleks, Claire, Emilie and Mel are now part of the "dream team" of freelancers who support Hélène on a daily basis.

Not to mention the sales agents: Delphine and Fabrice, Nico, Petra and Ralph.

And all the interns who have shared part of the journey: Blandine, Laura, Olivia, Romain, Gauthier, Chloé, Louis, Gaelle, Margot, Tassia, Maurine and Mariia.

Hélène, with her small independent brand, has learned to navigate the balance between her convictions and economic realities. Over the past ten years, there have been storms, calmer moments, joys, tears, launches that didn't quite take off, successes, adjustments and times of self-reflection… But she never changed course, much less her vision. Even when she had to pivot, expand, invest and structure the business.

Where others bet on fundraising and ultra-fast growth, Hélène preferred "slow business." Slowly but surely.

The result? Ten years later, MeroMero is still here! The small business has become more structured and is financially stronger (though still independent!). Even though the economic, political, social and environmental reality isn't ideal, MeroMero continues to believe in its mission and move forward.

Because we're convinced it's possible to create value and share it. To offer innovative, stylish and sustainable products that are both accessible to customers and profitable for MeroMero and its partners, all while respecting people and the environment as much as possible.

Can't wait for 2036!