Welcome to the Scoop: a weekly email series in which I quiz fashion insiders on the stories of the week. This will be a way for the Replica Handbag Store Business community to synthesize and reflect on the latest headlines and get a little inside scoop every Friday.
This week’s guest is Helgi Óskarsson, CEO of 66°North. 66°North was founded in 1926 in Iceland by a man called Hans Kristjánsson. He wanted to make clothing that protected Icelandic fishermen and other workers from the extreme weather of the North Atlantic.
Helgi took over as co-owner and CEO in 2011. While all its puffers, insulated trousers, and other cold-weather garments are still very much focused on durability and functionality, the company has since also strengthened its ties to fashion and culture. This year marks 66°North’s 100th anniversary, so I called Helgi to ask how they are celebrating.
Hi Helgi, what’s the scoop?
We are opening a new flagship store in Copenhagen in early August to coincide with Copenhagen Fashion Week. The location we are taking over has been, for the past quarter of a century, the home of Storm, a legendary Copenhagen store. Storm has had a tremendous influence on the Danish fashion and retail scene over the last three decades. To be able to move to this location on our 100th anniversary is truly an honor.
So it’s also your 100th anniversary! How did the move come about?
When I heard that this location was available, I contacted Storm co-founder Rasmus Storm, and we had a chat. Over time, we’ve also developed a really good friendship as we can both identify with some of the challenges we’ve been facing in the business. So we also agreed that we would work together on the transition from Storm to 66°North by creating a capsule collectsion.
What does that capsule collectsion look like?
Rasmus has been working closely with our creative team and will travel to Iceland this Spring to make sure it is exciting for both the 66°North community and the Storm community, who have been incredibly loyal. That collectsion will be very limited. Usually, when we do collaborations, we try to tap into our leftover fabrics, so we are doing the same with Storm. That’s basically all I can tell you. That and it will be made in our own factories in Latvia.
You actually operate your own factories. Are you guys finding disassembly sticky, too?
The focus in our factories is on quality and durability. It goes all the way back to 1926, when the company was founded, because when you develop a product that should save lives, you can’t compromise on quality and durability. You know, 60% of all clothing that’s manufactured in the world is thrown away within one year.
We’ve also had the repair shop since 1926. It’s not something we just started because we wanted to look more sustainable. It was set up 100 years ago because Iceland was a very poor country, so most of the revenue stream actually came from repairs at the beginning. Today, we repair over 4,000 pieces a year. So it’s not so much about disassembling a garment but ensuring its longevity.
You already have two other stores in Copenhagen. Why open a third location in Copenhagen instead of anywhere else in the world?
I think the keyword here is community. We have always been a very important part of the Icelandic community and culture. When it was time to open stores outside of Iceland in 2014, Copenhagen was a natural step for us. Iceland was part of the Danish crown for 500 years, which means Copenhagen was the capital of Iceland for a long time.
We wanted to open a store that would truly express the brand. We worked with the Berlin-based studio Gonzalez Haase on our London store in 2022. Then, later, we opened our store in the Copenhagen airport, and then our archive store. Now it’s time to upgrade our Danish flagship. We feel very connected to the local community and have actually collaborated with three Danish brands. We started with Soulland back in 2014, then worked with Ganni from 2019 all the way up to 2022. And then in February this year, we got together with a local skating brand called Dancer.
What are you hoping the next 100 years will be for 66°North?
I look back at the founder of the company, who had the courage to start a small clothing company in the middle of nowhere in the north-west of Iceland, saving the lives of Icelandic fishermen. It takes courage to take a step like that, and hopefully, over the next 100 years, the company will continue to develop. I want to see what is possible when it comes to connecting with people in different markets.
It’s not easy to open in different markets in today’s world. Is the macroeconomic uncertainty affecting your supply chain in any way?
Very much so. If you go back a few years, Brexit was a surprise to many people. The UK was a very important market, and all of a sudden, it demanded a different approach. It hasn’t been easy to get the product in. Then we had Covid, then the tariff wars, and then actual wars. It’s messed up the supply chain; materials are delayed because channels are being shut down. I guess that’s just a part of the world we live in, and we just have to deal with it.
Do you have any advice for fashion/luxury leaders in times of uncertainty?
My advice is to have a vision, stick to it, and at the same time, be agile enough to work through the challenges that will come along the way. You should expect to take detours, but you need to know where you are going.
My colleague Lucy just wrote about what it means to be a PR in 2026. What does it mean to be a CEO in 2026?
I think it's super exciting to be a CEO in 2026. There are great challenges, but maybe they come with opportunities. The greatest victories in human history were achieved at challenging times. So I say, bring on the challenges.
You can catch up with last week’s Scoop with James Boulter here.
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