A story of canvas, a family story, a story about mountains.
From grocery shopping bags to the Himalayan mountains and greatest mountaineers in climbing history, Millet is all about expeditions.
Founded and based in Annecy, the brand has taken part in a century of mountain sports, gearing up the majors and the amateurs. It’s a story about canvas and mountains, it’s a family story, and a story about the yellow SHERPA 50 backpack used by a whole generation. A story we all relate to.
In 1921, Marc and Hermance Millet, from the two Savoie, produced grocery and food bags for their customers at their grocery store near Lyon.

Marc’s frail health brought them closer to the summits, in Annecy. After his death in 1937, Hermance took over the business… and bequeathed it to her children, René and Raymond in 1945.


Louis Lachenal helped them design the first mountaineering backpacks, among which the backpack used in 1950 to climb up the Annapurna, the first 8000-meter summit reached by a human.


first 8000 m
is reached




first technical advisor

In 1963, Walter Bonatti and René Desmaison are first and second to scale the north face of the Grandes Jorasses, in winter

Greatest mountaineers worked with the Millet brothers directly from their workshop in Annecy: at first, there was René Desmaison (who invented the first harness in 1956), then Walter Bonatti.

nylon
backpacks


into
mountain
apparel

Millet continued its upward climb and diversified to clothing in 1977, launching the first parka made of Gore- Tex®
Just like the world of the 80s, everything is accelerating in the mountains. The Millet athletes are now taking the technical sides of the mountain with an The iconic Patrick Edlinger revolutionises climbing on cliffs.

north faces
and records




Ice climbing, spurred on by climbers such as François Damilano, opened new doors. The influence strongly guided Millet's offer and the first Gore-Tex® suits and ever lighter backpacks.
Enter the new millenium with Jean-Christophe Lafaille and Macro Sifredi; the first alpine style ascents and first snowboard descents of the men's journey into summits legends.


Jacket




Millet partners with the Chamonix Guides Company, the world's oldest and most prestigious company.
63 years afther the first ascent of the Annapurna, Yannick Graziani climbs its south face in alpine style.







We will continue to innovate, to commit responsibly and to track our community’s evolution and expectations, while sustaining our pioneering spirit of enterprise through products and initiatives that exceed every expectation of mountainsports enthusiasts.


the spirit remains
immutable.