Top 10 High-End Outdoor Brands Ranking
4/12/20246 min read
Established Year: 1989
Brand Origin: Canada
Brand Overview: Arc'teryx derives its name and logo from Archaeopteryx, one of the earliest known bird species, representing the pinnacle of outdoor brands in Canada. Alongside Mountain Hardware, Arc'teryx is recognized as one of the most outstanding outdoor apparel manufacturers in the North American market.
Founded in 1989 in Vancouver, Canada, Arc'teryx was acquired by the Adidas-Salomon Group in 2002. Subsequently, in 2005, Salomon was spun off from the Adidas-Salomon Group and sold to the Finnish Amer Sports Group, making Arc'teryx a subsidiary of Amer under the Salomon Group. Despite this, Arc'teryx maintains its independent operations in Vancouver. While some ancillary product manufacturing has been moved to New Zealand, Vietnam, China, and other locations, its headquarters, design studio, and main production lines remain in Vancouver.
Due to its relentless pursuit of new techniques and technologies, Arc'teryx has grown in just over a decade to become a recognized leader in outdoor brands in North America and globally, particularly in apparel and backpacks. Today, Arc'teryx's main product lines continue to focus on outdoor clothing, backpacks, and climbing gear, with the introduction of footwear in 2014.
Arc'teryx
Established Year: 1862
Brand Origin: Switzerland
Brand Overview: Mammut Sports Group, symbolized by the woolly mammoth, is a world-leading manufacturer of mountaineering, climbing, and outdoor sports equipment. Its products lead global trends with reliable quality and innovative design. Mammut represents the highest standards of safety, offering a product range that spans nearly all outdoor categories, including base layers, mid layers, outerwear, mountaineering boots (including crampon-compatible styles), sleeping bags, backpacks, climbing ropes, quickdraws, harnesses, headlamps, and avalanche safety equipment.
Since its inception in 1862, Mammut initially focused solely on handmade rope production. Today, its main production headquarters are located in Seon, Switzerland, driving forward with highly technical advancements and diversification in mountaineering and outdoor sports products, aiming for new milestones. In 1999, Mammut expanded its winter sports range by merging with Ajungilak, a renowned Norwegian sleeping bag manufacturer, taking a significant step towards higher-quality sports equipment. In 2002, a collaboration with Swiss company TOKO propelled Mammut's success in ski accessories, further elevating the Mammut brand to its peak.
Mammut
Established Year: 1862
Brand Origin: Switzerland
Brand Overview: Mammut Sports Group, symbolized by the woolly mammoth, is a world-leading manufacturer of mountaineering, climbing, and outdoor sports equipment. Its products lead global trends with reliable quality and innovative design. Mammut represents the highest standards of safety, offering a product range that spans nearly all outdoor categories, including base layers, mid layers, outerwear, mountaineering boots (including crampon-compatible styles), sleeping bags, backpacks, climbing ropes, quickdraws, harnesses, headlamps, and avalanche safety equipment.
Haglöfs is revered as a "technical brand," prioritizing functionality in its products. High-tech materials, advanced manufacturing processes, lightweight design, high usability, and exceptional durability are key design features. Additionally, Haglöfs emphasizes the use of recyclable materials in its production processes. The products are designed not only for specific activities but also to be versatile across various environments because Haglöfs believes that the more functional a product is, the more people will choose it.
Haglofs
Established Year: 1975
Brand Origin: United States
Brand Overview: PATAGONIA is an American outdoor retail brand and the top-selling brand at REI, the largest outdoor retail chain in the United States. With a strong presence in Japan, where it ranks second globally in sales among outdoor brands, PATAGONIA operates numerous brand-exclusive stores across America.Originally specializing in manufacturing climbing equipment, PATAGONIA now primarily produces outdoor apparel, which has become its core strength.
Additionally, PATAGONIA places a strong emphasis on environmental protection and resource conservation. The company's headquarters exclusively utilizes solar power generated from extensive outdoor solar panels. PATAGONIA was also a pioneer in implementing an "Earth Tax," allocating 1% of its global sales revenue to support local environmental initiatives worldwide.
Patagonia
Established Year: 1971
Brand Origin: United States
Brand Overview: MARMOT is one of the most renowned outdoor brands in the United States and globally recognized as a top-tier outdoor brand. The key to MARMOT's world-leading position lies in its extensive use of cutting-edge fabrics, materials, and production technologies available today. Known for product design focused on "professional biomimicry, user-centric approach, and all-weather functionality."
MARMOT's standout outdoor gear includes clothing, sleeping bags, gloves, tents, backpacks, and more. Each year, hundreds of styles are supplied to global distributors and sold through thousands of specialty stores across the United States, European Union countries, Japan, Asia, and dozens of other countries and regions worldwide.
Marmot
Established Year: 1984
Brand Origin: Sweden
Brand Overview: KLATTERMUSEN was born out of founder Peter Askulv's strong dissatisfaction with the outdoor gear he used during a climbing expedition. Peter Askulv, now also the brand's chief designer, continues to draw inspiration from mountaineering experiences. Product details are often discussed inside tents and then finalized through fabric selection and production arrangements worldwide. The business management of the company is largely handled by Peter's wife with a few assistants, resembling the operation style of many outdoor stores in China.
Currently, KLATTERMUSEN specializes in providing outdoor clothing and equipment for customers with high-quality demands. The company is headquartered in Are, Sweden, and operates retail businesses in 19 countries, primarily targeting markets in Sweden, Germany, Norway, Japan, and South Korea. The brand places a strong emphasis on environmental protection, allocating 1% of its sales revenue each year to environmental projects.
KLATTERMUSEN
Established Year: 1993
Brand Origin: United States
Brand Overview: Mountain Hardwear was founded by several seasoned outdoor enthusiasts in Richmond, California. The brand specializes in producing high-end mountaineering and outdoor equipment, apparel, and accessories, making it a prominent North American outdoor brand alongside The North Face. In 2003, Columbia Sportswear Company acquired Mountain Hardwear for over $30 million.
Mountain Hardwear, known as one of the top outdoor brands, distinguishes itself with premium materials, innovative designs, impeccable craftsmanship, and superior tailoring, particularly in hardshell garments, which are regarded as industry-leading. The brand is headquartered in the United States.
Mountain Hardwear
Established Year: 1966
Brand Origin: United States
Brand Overview: The North Face, which can be understood as the north-facing slope of a mountain, began designing, manufacturing, and selling its own brand of outdoor gear. By the late 1980s, The North Face became the only U.S. manufacturer covering a wide range of outdoor products, including jackets, skiwear, backpacks, tents, and more. The 1990s marked a period of significant growth and success for The North Face.
With over 40 years of development, The North Face has become a globally recognized outdoor brand. It is closely associated with challenging outdoor adventures in harsh natural environments. Through continuous technological innovation, The North Face designs and produces outdoor gear with increasing levels of comfort and safety performance, catering to various needs and skill levels.
The North Face
Established Year: 1950
Brand Origin: Sweden
Brand Overview: Fjallraven is a leading premium outdoor brand in the Swedish market and holds the distinction of being the official purveyor to the Swedish royal family, making it the sole outdoor brand with this honor. For over 50 years, the brand has upheld its traditional values: dedication to providing innovative solutions for outdoor leisure activities, promoting outdoor pursuits to inspire people to connect with nature, and prioritizing environmental conservation.
Fjallraven products are characterized by their strong functionality, durability, timeless design, reliable performance, ease of use, and versatility—a principle that the brand has consistently adhered to and upheld. As the company has grown, it has acquired several outdoor brands, including the Swedish stove brand Primus, the Nordic outdoor clothing brand Tierra, the German professional outdoor footwear brand Hanwag, and the renowned American outdoor brand Brunton. Today, the company's sales network spans the globe. Additionally, the company owns the well-known Swedish outdoor equipment chain Naturkompaniet.
Fjallraven
Established Year: 1957
Brand Origin: United States
Brand Overview: Black Diamond has evolved from a simple backyard setup with an anvil and hammer into a multinational corporation spanning across North America, Europe, and Asia, dedicated to serving climbing and skiing enthusiasts.
Driven by the mission to provide the best products to a wide range of mountaineering and climbing enthusiasts, Black Diamond is composed of individuals who are themselves passionate climbers and skiers. The company believes that if they are not satisfied with their own products, those products will not meet the needs of the end-users. Therefore, in actual production, Black Diamond continuously conducts various tests, including laboratory and field tests, striving to improve and exceed their design standards to offer outstanding outdoor products to their customers.