The company describes itself as making “professional grade gear” designed to help people “stay and feel alive.”

Helly Hansen’s story begins in Moss, Norway, a coastal town south of Oslo.

In 1877, Norwegian sea captain Helly Juell Hansen and his wife Maren Margarethe Hansen began producing protective clothing for people working at sea. Hansen had firsthand experience with the cold, rain, wind, and spray encountered by sailors and fishermen along the Norwegian coast.

Their solution was remarkably simple for the time: they treated coarse fabric with linseed oil, creating clothing that was substantially more resistant to water. The couple initially worked from their home and produced items including waterproof jackets and trousers.[1]

This maritime beginning is fundamental to the identity of Helly Hansen today. The brand’s modern sailing and outdoor products can be seen as an evolution of the same basic problem:

How do you keep a person protected, warm, dry, and functional in difficult weather?

Early recognition

The company’s early products quickly attracted attention. Just one year after its founding, Helly Hansen exhibited at the 1878 Paris World’s Fair, where its waterproof clothing received an award.[1]

That early recognition helped establish Helly Hansen as a serious manufacturer rather than simply a small local clothing producer.

Helly Hansen did not remain exclusively a manufacturer of clothing for sailors.

During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, it expanded into products for other outdoor and working environments. Its range eventually included items associated with camping, sailing, fishing, work, and leisure. The company was already marketing leisure-oriented rainwear in the early 20th century.

This evolution is important because it explains why Helly Hansen today occupies several overlapping markets:

• Sailing
• Skiing
• Hiking and trekking
• Outdoor recreation
• Urban outdoor clothing
• Professional workwear
• Search and rescue
• Mountain professionals

In other words, technical protection has always been the core of the brand, while the specific activities have changed over time.

Technology is arguably the most important part of Helly Hansen’s identity.

Rather than building its reputation primarily around fashion, the company historically differentiated itself through materials, construction techniques, insulation, waterproofing, and weather protection.

Waterproof materials

One of the company’s early breakthroughs was its oil-treated fabric.

After World War II, Helly Hansen explored plastic manufacturing techniques and incorporated plastics into waterproof clothing. This eventually led to materials such as Linox and Helox. Helox used a thin PVC film to create waterproof garments while also allowing the material to be used in relatively lightweight clothing.

This was significant because waterproof clothing historically involved a difficult trade-off between:

water protection ↔ weight ↔ flexibility ↔ breathability

Helly Hansen spent much of its history attempting to improve that balance.

One of Helly Hansen’s best-known innovations is LIFA®, its technical base-layer technology.

The company introduced LIFA in the 1970s, developing garments intended to move moisture away from the skin while helping the wearer remain comfortable in cold conditions. Helly Hansen describes LIFA as its first technical base-layer technology.[1]

This helped establish an approach that is now standard in outdoor clothing:

The layering system

Base layer → mid layer → outer layer

The basic idea is:

• Base layer: manage moisture next to the skin.
• Mid layer: provide insulation.
• Outer layer: protect against wind, rain, and snow.

Helly Hansen subsequently developed products around this concept, including LIFA and later insulation and shell technologies.

Another major Helly Hansen technology is HELLY TECH®.

Introduced in 1984, HELLY TECH was designed to provide a combination of:

• Waterproof protection
• Windproof protection
• Breathability

This was a major development because simply making a garment waterproof is not enough for highly active users. A completely impermeable garment can trap sweat and moisture inside.

HELLY TECH therefore represents an important shift in the company’s history—from simply making waterproof clothing to designing technical weather-management systems.

Today HELLY TECH remains one of the company’s major technology families.

Helly Hansen has continued to build on its original philosophy with newer technical systems.

Some of the technologies associated with the modern brand include:

• HELLY TECH® — waterproof/breathable weather protection
• LIFA® — moisture-management base layers
• H2Flow™ — temperature regulation
• LIFALOFT™ — lightweight synthetic insulation
• LIFA Infinity Pro™ — waterproof/breathable shell technology

These technologies appear across different product categories, particularly skiing, sailing, hiking, and outdoor clothing.[1]

Although the company originated in maritime clothing, skiing became one of Helly Hansen’s most important modern markets.

Helly Hansen gear appeared at the 1952 Winter Olympics, and the company subsequently became deeply involved with skiing and mountain professionals.

The brand produces:

• Ski jackets
• Ski pants
• Insulated jackets
• Shell jackets
• Base layers
• Midlayers
• Ski gloves and accessories
• Ski resort uniforms
• Mountain professional equipment

Helly Hansen says its equipment is used by more than 55,000 mountain professionals, with products used at more than 200 ski resorts and guiding operations around the world.

This professional relationship is a major part of its credibility: the company positions its products as equipment tested by people who actually work in harsh environments rather than simply as fashion garments.

Sailing remains one of the brand’s strongest connections to its heritage.

This is a natural fit: the company was literally created to protect people working on the sea.

Helly Hansen makes sailing clothing such as:

• Offshore jackets
• Sailing bibs
• Waterproof trousers
• Midlayers
• Base layers
• Sailing footwear
• Life/protection equipment
• Technical accessories

One famous moment in the company’s sailing history came in 1981, when the Norwegian yacht Berge Viking competed in the Whitbread Round the World Race. Helly Hansen created a distinctive red sailing jacket with horizontal stripes for the team. The design later became associated with the company’s heritage and was revived in later collections.

Another major branch of the company is Helly Hansen Workwear.

This side of the business serves people whose clothing is essentially part of their working equipment.

Its customers include workers in demanding environments such as:

• Construction
• Marine industries
• Trades
• Industrial work
• Outdoor professions
• Emergency and rescue services

The philosophy is similar to the consumer outdoor side of the brand: durability, weather protection, mobility, safety, and functionality.

Helly Hansen’s professional programme also specifically includes groups such as guides, ski patrollers, sailors, resort partners, and search-and-rescue professionals.

A distinctive feature of Helly Hansen is its emphasis on professional users.

Rather than positioning itself solely as an outdoor-fashion company, Helly Hansen emphasises people who work in:

• Mountains
• Oceans
• Ski resorts
• Construction sites
• Search and rescue
• Outdoor guiding

The company’s own description is essentially that products are developed through experience gained in some of the world’s harshest environments.

This creates a brand hierarchy somewhat like:

Professional equipment → technical outdoor equipment → lifestyle/outdoor fashion

That is an important distinction between Helly Hansen and brands that entered technical outdoor clothing primarily from a fashion or streetwear direction.

Visually, Helly Hansen has developed a recognisable Scandinavian outdoor aesthetic.

Typical characteristics include:

• Bold red
• Navy
• Black
• White
• Clean Scandinavian typography
• Large branding
• Technical jackets
• Horizontal colour blocking
• Sailing-inspired details
• Functional rather than ornamental construction

The aesthetic often sits somewhere between:

Norwegian maritime heritage + Scandinavian minimalism + technical sportswear.

The brand’s distinctive HH logo is one of its most recognisable visual elements.

Although Helly Hansen has always had some connection with leisure clothing, its modern popularity extends beyond people who actually sail, ski, or work outdoors.

Its jackets and fleece pieces have also become part of urban outdoor fashion.

This is partly because technical outdoor clothing has increasingly crossed over into everyday fashion.

A Helly Hansen shell can therefore serve two purposes:

Technical use:
Protection from rain, snow, wind, and cold.

Lifestyle use:
A recognisable Scandinavian outdoor aesthetic.

This dual identity is important to understanding the brand today.

Helly Hansen has experienced several ownership changes during its modern corporate history.

1990s–2010s

The company went through a series of ownership and restructuring arrangements, including ownership involving Norwegian conglomerate Orkla, private-equity investors, and the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan.[3]

2018 — Canadian Tire

In 2018, Canadian Tire Corporation agreed to acquire Helly Hansen, completing the acquisition in July of that year.[2]

Under Canadian Tire, Helly Hansen continued operating as a global outdoor brand headquartered in Oslo.

2025 — Kontoor Brands

In February 2025, Canadian Tire announced an agreement to sell Helly Hansen to Kontoor Brands for approximately US$1.276 billion, subject to adjustments. Canadian Tire reported that Helly Hansen generated approximately US$894 million in worldwide revenue in 2024.[2]

The acquisition subsequently made Helly Hansen part of Kontoor Brands’ global brand portfolio.

Kontoor Brands is a U.S.-based apparel company whose portfolio includes major denim and apparel brands.

The acquisition of Helly Hansen expanded Kontoor’s portfolio into the premium outdoor and technical-performance market.

So the corporate structure can be summarised as:

Kontoor Brands
↓
Helly Hansen
↓
Sailing • Skiing • Outdoor • Workwear • Lifestyle

This is a significant change from the company’s Norwegian ownership history, although the brand itself remains strongly Norwegian in identity and heritage.

Helly Hansen is no longer simply a Norwegian clothing manufacturer.

Its products are sold internationally, with the company reporting distribution across more than 40 countries.[2]

The brand has a particularly strong presence in markets where harsh-weather outdoor activities are culturally and commercially important, including parts of:

• Scandinavia
• Europe
• North America
• Japan
• Other international outdoor markets

Its strongest associations remain with northern climates and outdoor sports.

The modern Helly Hansen product range can broadly be divided into several areas.

Outerwear

One of the company’s most important categories:

• Waterproof jackets
• Shell jackets
• Insulated jackets
• Parkas
• Rain jackets
• Ski jackets
• Sailing jackets

Base layers

Products using LIFA technology are designed for moisture management and cold-weather layering.

Ski

Includes:

• Ski jackets
• Ski pants
• Midlayers
• Base layers
• Insulation
• Accessories

Sailing

Includes technical offshore and coastal sailing apparel.

Outdoor

The company also produces clothing and footwear for hiking, trekking, and general outdoor use.

Workwear

A separate technical category focused on professional users and demanding work environments.

Sustainability has become another component of the modern Helly Hansen identity.

The company says its sustainability efforts focus on areas including:

• Environmental protection
• Human rights
• Ethical values
• More responsible production
• Material choices
• Product durability

The company explicitly includes sustainability among its major areas of focus.

For a technical outdoor company, durability is particularly important: making equipment that lasts longer can reduce the need for frequent replacement.

If Helly Hansen had to be reduced to a few ideas, they would be:

Protection

The original reason for the company to exist was protection from harsh weather.

Function

Products are designed around what people need to do rather than purely how they look.

Innovation

The company’s history is filled with material and construction innovations.

Professional credibility

The brand actively works with sailors, skiers, guides, rescue professionals, and other outdoor specialists.

Norwegian heritage

The sea, mountains, cold weather, and Scandinavian environment remain central to the brand’s storytelling.

Helly Hansen is interesting because it is much older than the modern outdoor-clothing industry.

Many contemporary technical outdoor brands were founded in the second half of the 20th century. Helly Hansen’s history goes back to 1877.

Its evolution can roughly be represented as:

1877
↓
Waterproof clothing for Norwegian sailors
↓
Early 1900s
Rainwear + leisure/outdoor products
↓
Mid-20th century
Plastic waterproof materials
↓
1970s
Technical base layers / LIFA
↓
1980s
HELLY TECH waterproof-breathable technology
↓
1990s–2000s
Expansion into global outdoor and sportswear
↓
2010s
Strong focus on skiing, sailing and professional outdoor markets
↓
2018
Acquired by Canadian Tire
↓
2025
Acquired by Kontoor Brands
↓
Today
Global premium outdoor, sailing, ski and workwear brand

In terms of brand positioning, Helly Hansen generally occupies the premium technical outdoor segment.

It overlaps with brands such as:

• The North Face
• Patagonia
• Arc’teryx
• Columbia Sportswear
• Mammut
• Salomon

But Helly Hansen has a particularly distinctive combination of maritime heritage + skiing + Scandinavian workwear.

That combination is arguably its biggest point of differentiation.

The easiest way to understand the brand is to compare its heritage with its modern identity:

Despite this transformation, the underlying purpose has not changed dramatically.

In 1877 the question was:

How can we keep sailors dry and protected?

Today it is closer to:

How can we help people stay protected and comfortable while operating in demanding environments?

That continuity is the heart of the Helly Hansen brand.

Helly Hansen is best understood as a Norwegian heritage technical-outdoor brand rather than simply a fashion label.

Its identity comes from more than a century of developing clothing for difficult environments. The company started with waterproof maritime workwear, pioneered new waterproof materials, helped popularise technical layering through LIFA, developed HELLY TECH waterproof-breathable systems, and subsequently became a major name in skiing, sailing, outdoor apparel, and professional workwear.[1]

Its ownership is now international, but its Norwegian DNA remains central to its brand story. Today, Helly Hansen combines professional-grade technical performance, Scandinavian design, maritime heritage, and outdoor lifestyle appeal.

In one sentence

Helly Hansen is a Norwegian-founded technical outdoor brand established in 1877, best known for waterproof and weather-protective apparel, sailing and ski equipment, and professional-grade outdoor gear developed from more than a century of experience in harsh environments.

1. The Origin of Helly Hansen | Helly Hansen
2. Canadian Tire Corporation, Limited – Canadian Tire Corporation announces sale of Helly Hansen to Kontoor Brands; simplifying CTC portfolio to focus on Canadian retail growth
3. Helly Hansen – Store norske leksikon