100 Years: How 66°North Built Outerwear Trust Over A Century Of Community And Innovation
Images courtesy of 66°North
By PAGE Editor
A century in, 66°North is not interested in nostalgia. Instead, the Icelandic B-Corp outerwear brand is using its 100th anniversary as a living platform—one that connects heritage with progress, performance with culture, and technical credibility with a quietly commanding streetwear presence.
Launching its year-long centennial celebration at Copenhagen Fashion Week, 66°North unveiled its Autumn/Winter 2026 collection alongside a tightly considered program of community activations that underscore the brand’s founding philosophy: clothes designed to make life possible where conditions are unforgiving—and increasingly, where cities demand the same resilience.
Founded in 1926 to protect Icelandic fishermen from the North Atlantic’s harshest elements, 66°North has spent the last century refining a singular proposition built on quality, durability, craftsmanship, and community. Those values remain intact today, even as the brand has found renewed relevance within streetwear—not by chasing trends, but by earning credibility through function.
Championing Community: Finding Nature Within the City
At the heart of the centennial is ‘6.6’, a series of public activations designed to encourage movement, outdoor connection, and moments of escape within urban life. The program began on January 27 with a 6.6-kilometer community journey, marking the official opening of Copenhagen Fashion Week. More than 200 participants gathered to run or walk together, reframing fashion week’s usual cadence through collective motion.
That sense of considered intimacy extended indoors with a media dinner hosted in collaboration with two-Michelin-starred Kadeau, held at the 66°North showroom. The partnership underscored a shared Nordic philosophy—precision, restraint, and deep respect for craft—bridging culinary excellence with technical design. Later in the week, the brand continued its experiential storytelling with a 66-minute boat journey aligned with the Copenhagen Light Festival, echoing Iceland’s relationship to water, light, and landscape.
AW26: Connecting Heritage with Progress
The Autumn/Winter 2026 collection was introduced through the Kadeau-hosted dinner and a custom zine produced with longtime collaborators Orienteer Mapazine, positioning the season as both a reflection on 100 years of heritage and a forward-looking design statement.
Hero pieces anchor the collection. The Dyngja Down Story, inspired by a bestselling early-2000s down coat, returns reimagined for everyday wear using recycled insulation across bomber, coat, and jacket silhouettes. The Tindur Down Jacket, originally engineered for the first Icelander to climb the north side of Everest, appears in a new cropped form—its proportions informed by the brand’s recent collaboration with District Vision and its growing fluency within streetwear.
Technical layering remains central. The Tindur Shearling, a Polartec mid-layer, balances warmth with movement, while weather protection comes via the Dyngja Shell, Hornstrandir Gore-Tex Pro, and the bestselling Snæfell jacket, constructed with a plant-based Polartec membrane. Archival graphic tees featuring fishing boats, Icelandic landscapes, and classic workwear motifs ground the collection in lived history.
‘Trawl’: Heritage as Material Innovation
For AW26, 66°North introduces ‘Trawl’, a fishnet-inspired print that appears on the Dyngja Shell and a new Trawl Bag made using repurposed fishing nets in collaboration with Icelandic fishing-gear specialist Hampiðjan. It’s a literal weaving of heritage and innovation—coastal culture translated into functional design—without slipping into costume.
The 100-Year Capsule: One Century, Ten Pieces
To mark the milestone, 66°North has created a 100-Year Capsule—ten archival reinterpretations, each representing a decade since 1926. From a modern Gore-Tex Windstopper remake of the iconic Slippurinn anorak, to the fisherman wool Bylur sweater, army-inspired Arnarhóll Coat, and the enduring Snæfell Shell, the capsule reads as both historical record and design manifesto.
Rather than freezing its archive in time, the brand treats it as a working system—updated, re-engineered, and made relevant for now.
Looking Ahead
The centennial extends well beyond Copenhagen. A collaboration with Copenhagen skate brand Dancer, launching February 26, signals deeper engagement with street culture, followed by a March 10 partnership with Icelandic Grammy-winning artist Laufey. Additional global activations and limited capsules will roll out throughout the year.
At 100 years old, 66°North occupies a rare position in fashion. It doesn’t need to prove its relevance—it demonstrates it through longevity, performance, and an unwavering commitment to community. In a market increasingly defined by noise, the brand’s authority lies in something quieter: outerwear that works, stories that endure, and a streetwear credibility built not on hype, but on trust.
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