In Copenhagen, cult Icelandic outerwear brand 66°North celebrates a century in business: ‘It’s about adding another chapter to the story’

Fashion weeks often celebrate the future. Showgoers speculate on upcoming trends while brands present fresh collections. History may be woven into the narrative – fashion, with its cyclical nature, inevitably revisits the past – but the commercial aim is clear: to inspire the industry’s decision-makers to focus on the new. Copenhagen is no exception, especially since the launch of the CPHFW NewTalent scheme in 2022, designed to nurture and promote emerging designers on a global stage. But for 66°North, the Icelandic outerwear brand preparing for its centenary next year, fashion week is also an opportunity to address pressing topics that permeate the industry.

Inside a stark gallery space in western Copenhagen, the whir of sewing machines mingles with the low hum of conversation. Repair specialists from Iceland thread needles, carefully coaxing life back into a beloved jacket with a punctured sleeve. Visitors lean in, watching each stitch – part performance, part preservation. On the wall, skeletal remnants of cut fabric hang alongside paper pattern templates, forming a disembodied collage of past and future. In one corner, four models wear pieces from the S/S 2026 collection, highlighting the journey from creation to completion. This is 66°North’s idea of a fashion presentation: not only a preview of what’s to come, but a celebration of an enduring craft that has kept the brand and its garments built to last for (almost) one hundred years.

Helgi Óskarsson on 100 years of 66°North

Founded in 1926 by Hans Kristjansson in the fishing village of Suðureyri on the shores of Iceland’s Westfjords, 66°North was established to provide clothing that helped islanders withstand their country's coastal weather. The designs were less a style statement than a matter of survival. A fisherman’s coat wasn't a choice; it was a lifeline.

While we walk around 66°North’s fashion presentation with Helgi Óskarsson, who was appointed CEO in 2011, he points out that pragmatism remains the core of the brand’s design philosophy. Even today, in a fast-moving industry often led by visual cues and creative expression. ‘In Iceland, performance clothing isn’t only for outdoor adventures, it’s for survival every day. We design for multipurpose: a jacket you can hike in, wear to a café, or take skiing.’

Today, a 20,000-member Facebook group is dedicated solely to trading and reselling 66°North garments, proof that the brand’s authenticity and relevance prevail. ‘We’ve always aimed to be authentic, whether in old photos showing Iceland’s real weather or in store design elements like ceiling mesh that mimics gloomy skies.’

Repair as ritual

When a human injures themselves, they fix it, like a plaster over a cut. 66°North follows the same ethos when it comes to its clothes: make, repair, mend. Clothes are like a second skin, protecting against the harsh conditions of the outside world. ‘Like skin, you don’t change it all the time, and that means designing with two goals: it must function for multiple purposes and still look relevant ten years from now,’ says Óskarsson.

Long before ‘circularity’ became a marketing term, 66°North had its own version, an in-house repair service that has been running since the brand’s earliest days. In the 1920s, customers would bring their oilskins back to Suðureyri to be patched and reproofed. Today, over 4,000 garments a year pass through the company’s repair workshop in Reykjavík.

The Copenhagen presentation makes this tradition visible. Garments are mended in full view, every needle puncture and thread pull on display. Some repairs are near-invisible, an exercise in technical precision; others are intentionally conspicuous, with contrast panels that serve as a badge of honour.

‘We see repair as a collaboration between the garment, the maker, and the wearer,’ says Óskarsson. ‘It’s about adding another chapter to its story.’ In this setting, repair becomes more than maintenance; it’s a performance of values. Each stitch affirms the brand’s belief that a single jacket should replace five, and still hold its relevance after a decade of use. In the whir of the sewing machine, the centenary feels like a celebration of the past and a rehearsal for the next hundred years ahead.

The S/S 2026 collection

In celebration of the brand’s heritage and origin, next year’s centenary capsule for S/S 2026 will include one hero piece from each decade of the brand’s history, a visual archive of its evolution. Early oilskins and fishermen’s coats, search-and-rescue overalls, stormproof rainwear from the 1980s – each reinterpreted in new fabrics sourced from partners such as GORE-TEX and Polartec, while retaining their original silhouettes and intent.

‘Some of our best-selling designs are decades old,’ Óskarsson says. ‘We tweak them over time, using newly innovated, better fabrics, but keeping the core design.’ This season, hero pieces include the Hornstrandir Shell Jacket (named after the Hornstrandir Nature Reserve), Helgafell Trail Windbreaker (inspired by Iceland’s rugged trails), and the Snæfell Polartec Power Shield Pro, a multi-purpose everyday shell. Natural earthy tones permeate the collection, reflecting Iceland’s landscape and people.

What the next hundred years will look like for 66°North is anyone’s guess, but inevitably, climate, culture, and style will shift again. But Óskarsson is certain of one thing: that relevance is built on more than seasonal trends. ‘It feels amazing to be part of a brand still relevant after a century,’ he says. Repair, in his eyes, isn’t just a service but a signal, a way of keeping garments – and the craft behind them – in circulation. ‘We want people to know this service exists so clothes aren’t thrown away, and to highlight appreciation for quality and craftsmanship.’ As the sewing machines wind down and the last jacket is stitched closed, the centenary feels less like a look back and more like the quiet start of the next chapter.

66north.com