22/12/2014

ICEPEAK: The most profitable brand for sporting goods retailers in Europe – Now in the US

Lahti, Finland (December 19, 2014) -- The history of L-Fashion Group dates all the way back to 1907, when Vihtori Luhtanen began manufacturing clothes in Lahti, Finland. Nowadays L-Fashion Group is one of the biggest sports clothing manufacturers in Europe. The Group’s turnover is about $320 million and it employs 1,645 people. The Luhtanen family still owns and runs the company.

Icepeak was founded in 1996 when a small group of clothing professionals in L-Fashion Group, inspired by US style and know-how in technical materials, created the first collections. Icepeak brought waterproof and breathable clothing at affordable prices into the mainstream and the success story started. The cutting edge design and being in the right place at the right time fuelled the success on the European markets! Now it’s time to launch the brand on the US market!

Icepeak offers functional sportswear for the whole family. In ten years the annual turnover has grown from $2.5 million to a staggering $140 million. The brand’s collections are sold in 46 countries and 86% of sales are outside Finland. Icepeak is sold, for example, at more than 1,000 stores in Germany and in the more than 15 dedicated stores in China. Commercial success is mainly due to a combination of freshly coloured, up-to-date collections for an active, young-minded target group and an intelligent corporate strategy in international competition: clothing with the right price/design/quality ratio.

The manufacturing focus of Icepeak is in China. L-Fashion Group’s subsidiary in China finds suitable collaboration partners for the company and negotiates production agreements. The China strategy has been essential for the attractive pricing, right from the very beginning of the brand’s lifecycle. The strategy is proven to work extremely well. According to a survey of sports retailers, carried out by the leading European sports trade magazine “SAZ Sport”: Icepeak is the most profitable brand for sporting goods retailers in 2013.

Icepeak clothing is inspired by global trends and young people’s lifestyles. Icepeak designs a wide range of easy-to-care-for products for different outdoor environments – from urban streets to mountain slopes. Icepeak is an easy choice for people who like to be active, look up to date and simply enjoy life.

The next step in the success story is the US market, where Icepeak is looking for new partners. Sales director Keni Luhtanen: “I never could have imagined this kind of adventure when we started Icepeak from zero.  Now I know that nothing can stop this success story. Cooperation with Icepeak provides very profitable business for retailers. I’m sure that American consumers will very soon see us on the US market and we can continue the journey of success together.” 

Visit Icepeak at Booth #740 at the 2015 SIA Snow Show  

Source Icepeak by press release ©

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