In 1914, the brand’s founder, Helly Juell Hansen passed away, leaving his son, Helly Hansen, in charge of the company of the same name. While Juell Hansen was knowledgeable about the needs of seamen and workers, his son had grown up training to be a merchant and take over the family business. The first major development under the younger Hansen would come with the company’s introduction of Linox in the 1920s. It was a new waterproof fabric geared towards leisure rainwear rather than waterproof workwear. The original oilskin jackets and pants were heavy, carried a particularly strong stench and available in unbleached cotton; Linox, on the other hand, smelled less and could be produced in different colors, allowing Helly Hansen to offer garments meant to be worn outside of work hours.

While Linox is no longer used, it did push Helly Hansen to diversify its offering and commit to technological innovation. In 1949 Helly Hansen introduced the heir to Linox and, arguably, the fabric which has dictated the brand’s identity and direction for seven decades: Helox. Helox consisted of a thin piece of PVC being sewn into the fabric of garments, thereby doing away with oil-based waterproofing. Helly Hansen was producing tens of thousands of Helox jackets in the 1950s, but what made Helox so important to the company’s development was not the financial impact, but the fact that Helox was integral to [the pursuit of 3-Layer Technology]https://www.snowrepublic.co.uk/Brand-History/Helly-Hansen). Helox was the original layer—the outer shell meant to keep water, snow and wind at bay.

The second layer would come to be a bit more than a decade later, with Helly Hansen’s introduction of Fiberpile, what the brand claims is the original fleece. Fiberpile has been a mainstay of Helly Hansen’s offering since its debut in 1961, acting as the brand’s de facto thermal insulator and mid-layer (today it is better known as ProPile). Continuing the brand’s—unintentional—trend of introducing a new layer each decade, the 1970s saw Helly Hansen add LIFA, a technical base layer with moisture-wicking properties, to complete its 3-Layer Technology. But, by then, Helox was outdated and, in its stead, Helly Hansen introduced HellyTech, a waterproof and wind-resistant outer layer that was breathable. With the advent of HellyTech in the 1980s the brand’s quest of achieving a tri-layer weatherproof system was complete.

Taken together, HellyTech, Fiberpile and LIFA allowed Helly Hansen to entrench itself as one of the world’s foremost outerwear brands throughout the ’70s and ’80s and while the brand had traditionally exported its garments beyond Norway’s borders—dating back to the 1878 World expo—it was at this time that Helly Hansen grew in stature. The company received lucrative contracts ranging from supplying off-shore oil workers with its gear to outfitting Olympic athletes.

As Helly Hansen’s recognizable logo began to spread across Europe, to the United Kingdom and in the United States, the brand began to emerge as a favorite within different subcultures in the ’90s. In the United Kingdom, the brand was appropriated by teenagers in the North—alongside brands like The North Face—as part of a larger trend where oversized technical outerwear became staples of streetwear. In Germany, on the other hand, Helly Hansen’s HH logo was seen as having a different meaning and became a favorite of a different subculture: skinheads. Meanwhile, in the United States, Helly Hansen emerged as a brand adored by urban youth on the East Coast; that, in turn, led to [Helly Hansen becoming a mainstay in ’90s hip-hop](https://www.complex.com/style/2014/01/20-coolest-types-jackets-hip-hop-history/carhartt. Funkmaster Flex, LL Cool J and Mobb Deep all sported the double H logo, while Mase rapped “I went from Helly Hansen to mini-mansions”.

Helly Hansen was suddenly considered cool and was selling outside of its intended demographic. As a result, the brand took steps to boost its growth, opening up distribution in new markets and pumping money into marketing the brand to urban youth rather than the traditional outerwear and yachting segments. Throughout the late-’90s and aughts, more Helly Hansen product—and more diverse types of product—started flooding the market. But that proved to be a terrible decision for the Helly Hansen brand in retrospect, as the company overextended itself and ended up chasing cool when the authentic products and identity were what gave it cachet.

Peter Sjölander, a former Helly Hansen CEO, told The Telegraph that, “The company lost its way [and] what we did wrong was to develop clothing lines for this part of the market, the New York rappers, but then of course, their interest suddenly dropped and we were left with warehouses full of clothing that nobody wanted to wear.” At the same time, Helly Hansen left branding up to regional subsidiaries and distributors, which led to a diluted and inconsistent brand message across various markets.

But, under different owners—Bahrain-based Invest Corp first, and then Altor, a Scandinavian holding company—Helly Hansen took steps throughout the aughts aimed at shrinking the company back to profitability and centralizing branding initiatives at the company’s Moss headquarters, while renewing its ties to sailing and the outdoors. And, for a while, Helly Hansen was relegated to stores that serviced outdoorsy types, alongside brands like The North Face and Patagonia.

The brand’s DNA has always been on the water and since the mid-aughts Helly Hansen has placed an emphasis on returning to the seas, sponsoring teams in the Volvo Ocean race and sailors attempting incredible feats of yachting. But, in recent years, Helly Hansen has reemerged as a force on the streets as on the seas. Perhaps it was because the brand was celebrating its 140th anniversary in 2017 and there seems to be a renewed interest in brands with history. Maybe it was the newfound mass appeal of utilitarian workwear and outerwear that elevated it, alongside brands like The North Face and Arc’teryx. Perhaps, still, it was the fact that those who grew up in an era when Helly Hansen was “cool” were now the ones with disposable income and in positions—whether at Helly Hansen, retailers, or magazines—to inject new energy into the brand.

Regardless of what spurred fashion’s renewed interest in the brand, Helly Hansen’s increasingly large presence in that segment is undeniable. Pinnacle retailers, like Kinfolk in the United States and END. in the United Kingdom have begun stocking the brand. Other retailers, like SSENSE and Dover Street Market are also carrying HH-branded jackets, albeit ones offered by up-and-coming German brand GmbH as part of an ongoing collaboration with Helly Hansen. The Scandinavian outerwear purveyor also launched a collaboration with Tetsu Nishiyama’s WTAPS in 2017. The two collaborations emphasized different aspects of the Helly Hansen history: The GmbH project was centred on the iconic HH logo, while the WTAPS collection paid homage to Helly Hansen’s utilitarian roots. All of this—the stockists, the WTAPS and GmbH collaborations—have been relatively recent developments, but there were signs as early as 2010 that Helly Hansen was ready for a comeback, when the brand [teamed up with cult favorite, nanamica](https://www.highsnobiety.com/2010/04/28/nanamica-x-helly-hansen-flag-collection/, for a nautical-themed collaboration.

The hope now, for the company, is that it doesn’t lose its way; it can be easy to trade slow, long-term growth for seemingly quick ascension to the ranks of fashion’s utilitarian darlings. But, what Helly Hansen’s history shows is that the company is better off sticking to its roots; make clothes for the outdoors and the seas and leave the lifestyle product for a select few partners that can offer a unique take on the Helly Hansen brand. Helly Hansen’s new owner, Canadian Tire—the Canadian equivalent of a hypothetical Lowe’s and Wal-Mart love child—is definitely not one to dabble in cool brands, so the acquisition of the Norwegian brand should help calm any desires to trade authenticity for popularity. Rappers didn’t adopt Helly Hansen because it was cool, they wore them because they kept them dry and warm. If Helly Hansen focuses on making the best outerwear possible, as Helly Juell Hansen set out to do 140 years ago, the rest should, and will, take care of itself.