66°NORTH Celebrates Centennial at Copenhagen Fashion Week SS26

Summary

• To celebrate its upcoming 100th anniversary, performance wear label 66°NORTH launched an immersive exhibition at Copenhagen Fashion Week on August 5 — showcasing its historic legacy, new SS26 collection, and meticulous testing processes.
• The exhibition features a behind-the-scenes look at the brand’s factory operations and 100-year-old repair initiative, emphasizing its commitment to craftsmanship, durability, and responsible material choices for garments made to last.

Icelandic performance wear label 66°NORTH launched its SS26 collection with a special exhibition anticipating its 100th anniversary in 2026. The immersive exhibition “100 Years of Progress. Still Made for Life” during Copenhagen Fashion Week gave visitors a behind-the-scenes look at the brand’s historic legacy and current-day innovations centered on the latest range.

On the showcase Helgi Óskarsson, CEO, 66°North, said, “Our journey over the last hundred years has been marked by innovation, without compromising on the core values built into the company since its inception.” “This Copenhagen Fashion Week exhibition reflects our unwavering dedication to craftsmanship, durability, and purposeful design, and offers up guests an insight into the inner workings of our factories and repair shops,” he added.

Interactive features, including a wind machine and a GORE-TEX weather simulator, showcase the intense level of testing 66°North products receive before reaching the end consumer.

The special exhibition also contains an atelier inspired by the brand’s factories, complete with cutting tables and workbenches. The label has operated directly-owned factories throughout Europe, with a facility in Latvia dedicated to collaborating with fabric innovators, including partners GORE-TEX® and Polartec®. In addition to the SS26 products, everything from prototypes, raw materials, and deconstructed garments was put on display to demonstrate the brand’s product development journeys.

Harðardóttir expressed the label’s dedication to incorporating responsible material choices without compromising on performance. “We believe it’s better to create a garment that lasts a decade than one that claims to be a more sustainable fabric but fails in two or three years.” For example, the SS26 Hornstrandir Shell Jacket is a GORETEX® Pro 3L hybrid jacket that offers storm-grade protection, and the Snæfell Polartec® Power ShieldTM Pro is designed to provide breathability, waterproofing, and unrestricted movement.

Led by the 66°North repair team, the company’s 100-year-old  mending initiative executed live repairs on-site at the exhibition. “Our repair service has been central to our mission since Hans Kristjansson founded the company in Suðureyri, Iceland, in 1926. When your customers’ lives depend on your products, you do everything possible to protect them,” said Bjarney Harðardóttir, CBO, 66°North.

See the gallery above for an in-depth look at the exhibition and images of 66°North’s SS26 range, set for future release at the brand’s webstore. Stay tuned to Hypebeast for the latest fashion industry insights.

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