Key Takeaways:
- Mons Royale CEO Hamish Acland says the brand is seeing growth across all of its regions, not just one.
- Acland credits investment in product development, including new categories like pants and technical mid-layers, with driving that growth.
- His mission is to move riders from synthetics to natural fibers, and the company is working beyond base layers on mid-layers and outerwear.
Hamish Acland spent 10 years as a professional skier, traveling the world and living out of a bag. One thing he noticed along the way? He never wore his on-mountain layers off the hill.
“The outdoor industry was all about making everything look like it was for climbing Everest,” he said, in a 2024 interview. Base layers were either synthetics that couldn’t stand up to multi-day wears without washing, or Merino pieces that were, in his words, “a snooze-fest.”
So in 2009 he decided to design his own. Acland and his wife Hannah, a designer, launched Mons Royale to fill that gap, starting with Merino wool from their home turf in New Zealand. Now, nearly two decades later, the company has not only defined a market, but has an impressive global footprint that’s only getting better.
In an interview with Shop Eat Surf Outdoor, Acland shared why the company is growing, how he and Hannah have approached selling globally, and his goals for 2027.
Mons Royale is on an upswing. Could you share the current state of the company? What does that momentum mean, and how is it distinct from where the brand has been?
Hamish Acland, CEO, Mons Royale: We’re 17 years in the game, and it feels like we’re hitting a key tipping point. And what’s unique about our path is that because our home market is so small, we had to go global from day one. Often, brands scale to NZ$20 million (about $11.6 million) or even NZ$50 million (about $29 million) in their home market first, which might make it easier in the beginning, but often makes it challenging later on when they’re trying to go global on a business geared toward that home market, be it product fit, colors or marketing investment.
When you look at Mons Royale today, we’re split fairly evenly across Europe, North America, and New Zealand/Australia. And now, we’re seeing a lift in all markets, not just one.
What’s been driving that growth, specifically?
Hamish Acland: We’ve been really investing in product development and expanding into new categories, like pants and technical mid-layers. And I should point out, unlike most outdoor brands that source from oil-derived synthetics, we’re developing materials starting with natural ingredients.
And it’s working: our materials are delivering performance in a whole new way. Combine that with our unique on- and off-mountain style, and it’s a recipe for growth.
Alongside retail growth, you’re also seeing an increase in DTC sales, with North American traffic increasing by about 34%. What’s been the strategy behind that? Was it a goal you set out to achieve, or the byproduct of something else?
Hamish Acland: As I said, product has been a big growth driver, which then drives word of mouth. We’ve also invested in positioning the brand in mountain culture, supporting athletes and showing up at key events. A great example is our partnership with Natural Selection Tour, where some of our top athletes compete, like Finn Bilous in NST Ski and Robin Goomes in NST Bike. Speaking of Robin, one of our sponsored mountain bikers: she just became the first athlete in the world to win Red Bull Rampage three times in a row.
The other key aspect of our growth has been our epicenter strategy. We’ve distributed resources across our headquarters in Wānaka, New Zealand, and our global offices in Innsbruck, Austria, and Whistler, British Columbia. The aim is to show up on the radar of both locals and the two-million-odd visitors a year alike.
We have our own brand stores in each location too, which not only introduce people to our product, but also provide a home base to host our community, be it through film premieres, watch parties, workshops or events. We also shoot product and brand content from each epicenter. Our goal is for these three epicenters to be a lighthouse of the brand in each region.
How would you describe the outdoor industry right now? What’s working, and where do you see opportunities for growth or change?
Hamish Acland: The vast majority of outdoor brands are still using oil-derived synthetics to create their apparel. We know this has to change. We started making that change with base layers, and we’ll continue to keep innovating here. But with such a huge percentage of all technical mid-layers and outerwear being synthetic, there’s a much bigger job to be done. We’re working on that too.
What are your goals for 2027 and beyond? Where is Mons Royale headed?
Hamish Acland: Our mission is to shift the rider from synthetics to natural fibers, and to inspire a life of action and adventure sports. That’s the core of who we are. What’s exciting is that our growth and scale are really becoming an enabler of that impact.
Finally, where are you skiing these days?
Hamish Acland: Last weekend I skied at Cardrona, which is one of the local mountains in Wānaka. What’s great about being where we are is that on the drive up the mountain, you can look out the window and see Merino sheep grazing in the hills of one of the partner farms that supply us wool.
It’s crazy to think, but the Merino sheep that grow the wool, our headquarters where we develop the products, and the mountains where we test the products (and play in) are all in one valley. It’s pretty unique.
