NEW HECKEL BRAND AMBASSADOR
Innovative partnership

Heckel is strengthening its brand positioning “EQUIPEMENT POUR L’ EXTREME” with a new brand ambassador, Stéphane Luchini, with effect from August 2010. The 32-yearold Frenchman is a specialist in extreme conditions, an experienced helicopter pilot, a renowned explorer-researcher and a committed environmentalist. As a brand ambassador, Stéphane Luchini will be supplied by Heckel with equipment on his expeditions and will test products in extreme conditions, as well as being employed by Heckel as a consultant.

A portrait of Stéphane Luchini
With Stéphane Luchini as a brand ambassador, the field of expeditions as an application now forms a new focus for the brand. Stéphane Luchini began his professional career as a Puma helicopter pilot in the French army. During his time in the military, he spent ten years travelling around the world. Between his tours of duty, the passionate globetrotter pursued his hobbies of mountaineering, paragliding and skydiving. In 2007, he decided to leave the army to realise his dreams, subsequently he joined the team on the scientific expedition “Total Pole Airship”, led by the famous French researcher Jean-Louis Etienne. Since then, Stéphane Luchini has been involved in various other scientific missions. When he is not on the other side of the world, Stéphane Luchini slips on his fire service overalls and flies fire fighting planes and helicopters in the South of France to put out forest fires.

Extreme conditions in the service of product innovation
Extreme cold, extreme heat, fierce storms … for Stéphane Luchini, these are everyday conditions and threats on his missions. By equipping him with innovative products such as MACPOLAR EXTREM Winter Boots or the MACEXPEDITION from the MACsole® Adventure range, Heckel has set itself the aim of protecting “experts in extreme weather conditions” from the dangers they face when carrying out their work. Moreover, by getting involved in this project, Heckel is consciously supporting a man who has dedicated his life to understanding and protecting the climate – an important battle which affects us all. However, that is not all. This partnership will also help Heckel’s product development teams to develop new product generations in the future and to test these in extreme conditions. The innovations and technologies to which these research studies give rise will help to continuously further develop and improve the performance and quality of Heckel safety footwear for all applications, whether it is designed for use in extreme conditions or for day-to-day use.

A partnership based on shared values
It was important to Heckel to find an ambassador who is able to credibly embody the fundamental values of the company. Stéphane Luchini, for his part, was totally convinced by the philosophy of the Heckel brand and its products, which he had already tested under real conditions at the North Pole, and was delighted to be able to put his experiences to good use in product development processes.

STEPHANE LUCHINI
PROFESSIONNAL PILOT

(12 years experience - 4000 flight hours)

Born in Chamonix – Age: 32 years

Experience
2010 : Air operations director on the Générali Arctic Observer expedition led by Jean-Louis Etienne in Spitzberg and Siberia.
Piloted fire-fighting aircraft Bell 212 and AS350 B3 in Sofia Antipolis (South of France)

2009 : Served as pilot in Antarctica for the Paul Emile Victor Polar Institute on AS350 B3
Served as pilot for mountain work on LAMA in the Pyrenees

2007-2008 : Piloted airship for Jean-Louis Etienne expedition:

  • Piloted twin-engine AU30 airship, 55 m long, 19 m high
  • Polar expedition, departed Paris, across Europe, the Barents Sea, the North Pole, Alaska

1998-2007 : Served as pilot on 1st helicopter manoeuvre squadron for the French Army in Pau :

  • Squadron pilot on SA 330 Puma
  • Night vision binocular flights, IFR, night VFR, mountain flying, paragliding, tactical flights, GIGN missions
  • Operations pilot for 7 overseas operations (the former Yugoslavia, Kosovo, the Ivory Coast, Chad, Darfur)
  • Operation "Enduring freedom" on aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle. Pakistan, Oman, Abu Dhabi, Dubai