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This article first appeared in our sister publication\u00a0Shop Eat Surf Outdoor<\/em>\u00a0(SESO).<\/em><\/p>\n British outdoor apparel brand\u00a0Berghaus<\/strong>\u00a0started 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, N.J. and Toronto.<\/p>\n Frontman Liam Gallagher famously wore Berghaus jackets such as the Trango and Meru models in the \u201890s. The brand\u2019s affiliation with the band and the reunion prompted Berghaus to\u00a0reissue the jackets\u00a0earlier this year.<\/p>\n \u201cI 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, \u2018Okay, we\u2019re going to hurry up and launch this, and we\u2019re going to buy product blind, and we\u2019re going to make it happen.\u2019 So it\u2019s been exciting to see that,\u201d said Shane Wallace, North American VP of Portfolio Brands at Pentland Brands<\/strong>, the parent company of Berghaus, in an interview with SESO<\/em>.<\/p>\n Wallace met the team from\u00a0Outside Summit and Festival\u00a0at the Sea Otter event for the bike industry this past spring, and immediately saw how Berghaus\u2019s bridge between arts, culture and outdoor recreation aligned with the Outside event, 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<\/strong> weeks to prepare, Berghaus debuted its North American offerings at Outside in Denver.<\/p>\n \u201cThere was no better way to celebrate the entrance of the brand into the U.S. market,\u201d 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. \u201cIt really was an incredible moment. We celebrated and had incredible validation from the attendees of the show and the outdoor industry.\u201d<\/p>\n 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\u00a0Oslo, Norway, bringing Berghaus to rock \u2018n\u2019 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.<\/p>\n In addition to being selective with the products it\u2019s bringing to the North American market, Berghaus is also being selective when it comes to its retailers, Wallace said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe probably paused more conversations that we had with retailers than we accelerated, mainly due to the initial launch being very select retail distribution,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Hatchet Outdoor Supply Co.<\/strong>\u00a0in Brooklyn, New York, will be Berghaus\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are in conversations with a major outdoor retailer<\/strong> that we\u2019ll have to leave nameless at this point, and then we have approximately 10<\/strong> other retailers on board for the initial launch,\u201d Wallace said. \u201cWe 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.\u201d<\/p>\n In the future, Berghaus plans to bring a wider selection of products, such as its premium\u00a0Extrem\u00a0collection for top of mountain, which Wallace said would likely be appropriate to sell in just 25<\/strong> or so retailers in the U.S. <\/p>\n Berghaus previewed its trail collection at Grassroots Outdoor Alliance\u2019s 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\u2019s North American debut.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was a surprise to some degree, because we are new to the market,\u201d Wallace said. \u201cIt was really cool to see that we already had some fans that felt proud enough to wear their product to such a great show.\u201d<\/p>\n Oasis and the \u201890s aesthetics appeal to nostalgic Gen X and millennial shoppers, and Wallace said the band and its affiliation with Berghaus is also appealing to younger consumers who are mining music history and vintage styles.<\/p>\n \u201cWe definitely are seeing a combination of the college-age or older, and teenage youth really gravitate toward this Brit-pop moment with \u201890s nostalgia happening within cultural trends right now,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n 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 \u2014 partly because it comes in the same colors as the Colorado flag: red, yellow, white, and blue, Wallace said.<\/p>\n \u201cThis has been an iconic color of ours since the \u201880s. And he was just so in love with the jacket that we gave him one and he took a photo in it,\u201d Wallace said. \u201cAnd from what I heard, he has been in this Trango jacket since we gave it to him.\u201d<\/p>\n Berghaus is also growing its involvement in outdoor recreation in North America. It\u2019s an official partner of the American Mountain Guides Association (AMGA) and will also be a presenter at the AMGA Awards.<\/p>\n Tariffs also didn\u2019t create any hesitation from Berghaus when it came to launching in North America.<\/p>\n \u201cWe were just very dedicated to a Tier One launch,\u201d Wallace said. \u201cWe know from working with customers that the 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\u2019re bringing tier one product to the market first.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n![\"From](\"https:\/\/www.retailtouchpoints.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Berghaus-Outside-Summit-Shane-Wallace.png\")
Berghaus Employs Selective Retail Distribution<\/h2>\n
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