HELLY HANSEN
Welcome,
The story of Helly Hansen started in 1877. After many years at sea, norwegian captain Helly Juell Hansen and his wife Maren Margarethe began producing oilskin jackets, trousers, sou'westers and tarpaulins, made from coarse linen soaked in linseed oil. They certainly struck a nerve in the market, because over the first five years they sold approximately 10,000 pieces. In 1878 the company won a diploma for excellence at the Paris Expo, and began exporting its products. The layering story was completed in the 1970s, with the development of LIFA. This wonder-fiber, used in LIFA, kept the skin dry and warm by pushing moisture away from the body, making it the ideal baselayer fabric for outdoor and workwear use. The latest generation of LIFA is still used in our baselayers today.
The heritage from Helly Juell Hansen is still our cornerstone. Today our gear is used by world-class sailors, skiers and adventurers who spend their time between human will and nature’s forces, and demand full protection and performance when the conditions are at their worst.