66°NORTH Celebrates 100 Years of Performance Wear with Immersive Exhibition at Copenhagen Fashion Week
Icelandic performance wear label 66°NORTH has launched its highly anticipated SS26 collection with a special exhibition at Copenhagen Fashion Week. The exhibition, titled “100 Years of Progress. Still Made for Life,” offers visitors a behind-the-scenes look at the brand’s historic legacy and current-day innovations.
The showcase, which took place on August 5, features a range of interactive features, including a wind machine and a GORE-TEX weather simulator, to demonstrate the intense level of testing that 66°NORTH products undergo before reaching consumers. The exhibition also includes an atelier inspired by the brand’s factories, complete with cutting tables and workbenches.
Helgi Óskarsson, CEO of 66°NORTH, expressed the brand’s commitment to craftsmanship, durability, and purposeful design, stating, “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.”
The label, which will celebrate its 100th anniversary in 2026, has operated directly-owned factories throughout Europe, with a facility in Latvia dedicated to collaborating with fabric innovators such as GORE-TEX® and Polartec®. The exhibition showcases not only the new SS26 collection, but also prototypes, raw materials, and deconstructed garments to demonstrate the brand’s product development process.
Bjarney Harðardóttir, CBO of 66°NORTH, emphasized the brand’s dedication to responsible material choices without sacrificing 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,” she said.
The SS26 collection features high-performance pieces, such as the Hornstrandir Shell Jacket made with GORE-TEX® Pro 3L hybrid fabric for storm-grade protection, and the Snæfell Polartec® Power ShieldTM Pro designed for breathability, waterproofing, and unrestricted movement.
In addition to showcasing its latest collection, 66°NORTH also highlighted its 100-year-old repair initiative, with live repairs being executed on-site at the exhibition by the brand’s repair team. “Our repair service has been central to our mission since the company was founded in 1926,” said Harðardóttir. “When your customers’ lives depend on your products, you do everything possible to protect them.”
Take a closer look at the immersive exhibition in the gallery above.
