British outdoor apparel brand Berghaus started planning its North American launch in the fourth quarter of 2024 but moved up its plans when British rock band Oasis announced its reunion and tour, which includes dates this summer in Los Angeles, Chicago, East Rutherford (New Jersey), and Toronto.
Frontman Liam Gallagher famously wore Berghaus jackets such as the Trango and Meru models in the ‘90s. The brand’s affiliation with the band and the reunion prompted Berghaus to reissue the jackets earlier this year.
“I joined in October, and then by middle of November, we had a launch plan in front of the executive team in the U.K. saying, ‘Okay, we’re going to hurry up and launch this, and we’re going to buy product blind, and we’re going to make it happen.’ So it’s been exciting to see that,” said Shane Wallace, North American vice president of portfolio brands at Pentland Brands, the parent company of Berghaus, in an interview with SESO.
Wallace met the team from Outside Summit and Festival at Sea Otter this past spring, and immediately saw how Berghaus’s bridge between arts, culture, and outdoor recreation aligned with Outside, which hosted a music and film festival alongside outdoor brand activations, industry panel discussions, networking events, and a job fair. In June, with just five weeks to prepare, Berghaus debuted its North American offerings at Outside in Denver.
From left: Berghaus fleece jackets and bucket hats on display at Outside Festival, Shane Wallace, vice president portfolio brands, Pentland Brands. Photos courtesy of Berghaus.
“There was no better way to celebrate the entrance of the brand into the U.S. market,” Wallace said, adding that alongside industry leaders and Colorado locals, athletes such as snowboarder Travis Rice, surfer John John Florence, and sports commentator Selema Masekela stopped by to hang out at the booth and check out product. “It really was an incredible moment. We celebrated and had incredible validation from the attendees of the show and the outdoor industry.”
Selective Retail Distribution
The Meru jacket was one of the first mountaineering jackets to use Gore-Tex, Wallace said. Gallagher wore it onstage in 1997 at a concert in Oslo, Norway, bringing Berghaus to rock ‘n’ roll fans. Berghaus is launching its Tier One Icons collection in North America, which includes the Meru and Trango jackets, a fleece jacket, and an insulated jacket, which was developed by Sir Chris Bonington, a mountaineering icon and Berghaus athlete.
In addition to being selective with the products it’s bringing to the North American market, Berghaus is also being selective when it comes to its retailers, Wallace said.
“We probably paused more conversations that we had with retailers than we accelerated, mainly due to the initial launch being very select retail distribution,” he said.
Hatchet Outdoor Supply Co. in Brooklyn, New York, will be Berghaus’s first retail partner, and the Meru and Trango jackets will debut in the store in late summer, over the same weekend Oasis plays two sold-out concerts in New Jersey.
“We are in conversations with a major outdoor retailer that we’ll have to leave nameless at this point, and then we have approximately 10 other retailers on board for the initial launch,” Wallace said. “We brought in just a really minimal amount of product for 2025 to tease the market. (We want to) get it in the market, sell out, and create some scarcity model demand.”
Berghaus was founded in 1966 by climbers Peter Lockey and Gordon Davison. Photo courtesy of Berghaus.
In the future, Berghaus plans to bring a wider selection of products, such as its premium Extrem collection for top of mountain, which Wallace said would likely be appropriate to sell in just 25 or so retailers in the U.S. Berghaus previewed its trail collection at Grassroots Outdoor Alliance’s Connect show in June. That collection is for everyday active participants and casual athleisure consumers. Wallace said a few attendees showed up wearing Berghaus shirts and jackets and were enthusiastic about the brand’s North American debut.
“It was a surprise to some degree, because we are new to the market,” Wallace said. “It was really cool to see that we already had some fans that felt proud enough to wear their product to such a great show.”
Bridging Generations, the Outdoors, and the Arts
Oasis and the ‘90s aesthetics appeal to nostalgic Generation X and Millennial shoppers, Wallace said the band and its affiliation with Berghaus is also appealing to younger consumers who are mining music history and vintage styles.
“We definitely are seeing a combination of the college-age or older, and teenage youth really gravitate towards this Brit-pop moment with ‘90s nostalgia happening within cultural trends right now,” he said.
Music and the outdoors are easily brought together, particularly in a festival environment such as Outside. Pro snowboarder turned muralist Pat Milbery came by the Berghaus booth at Outside Festival and fell in love with the Trango jacket – partly because it comes in the same colors as the Colorado flag: red, yellow, white, and blue, Wallace said.
“This has just been an iconic color of ours since the ‘80s. And he was just so in love with the jacket that we gave him one and he took a photo in it,” Wallace said. “And from what I heard, he has been in this Trango jacket since we gave it to him.”
Berghaus is also growing its involvement in outdoor recreation in North America. It’s an official partner of the American Mountain Guides Association (AMGA) and will also be a presenter at the AMGA Awards.
Tariffs also didn’t create any hesitation from Berghaus when it came to launching in North America.
“We were just very dedicated to a Tier One launch.” Wallace said. “We know that from working with customers that tier one product is still having a moment, even through the tariff impacts, the recession concerns. The tier one product is still selling really well in the market, and we’re bringing tier one product to the market first.”
Kate Robertson can be reached at kate@shop-eat-surf-outdoor.com.
