12 Icelandic Clothing Brands Worth Knowing (2026)
Iceland builds clothing for one of the harshest climates in Europe, and that necessity shaped its entire fashion identity. Wool became the foundation of Icelandic style long before it became a design trend. Sheep have outnumbered people on the island for centuries, and their fleece produces a fiber that stays warm even when wet. That practical advantage turned into an industry. Brands like 66°North started by dressing fishermen against the North Atlantic, not by chasing runway trends.
Reykjavik’s small, tightly connected creative scene changed that story over the past two decades. A handful of designers built playful, storytelling driven labels alongside the technical outerwear houses, and today Icelandic fashion moves between both worlds without much friction. Compared with Norwegian or Danish fashion, Iceland’s scene stays smaller and more experimental, built by a tiny population that treats fashion as a craft practiced by hand rather than something mass-produced at scale.
Icelandic Clothing Brands Overview
Here’s a quick overview of the twelve Icelandic brands featured in this guide, from technical outerwear houses to storytelling-driven fashion labels.
- 66°North – Reykjavik outerwear house founded 1926, built for Icelandic fishermen and still making technical performance gear today.
- Cintamani – Outdoor brand since 1989, known for merino base layers built to withstand Arctic winter conditions.
- Icewear – Wool and outerwear specialist founded 1984, rooted in Iceland’s textile manufacturing heritage.
- Farmers Market – Nordic heritage label since 2005, blending Icelandic wool with international fabrics for city and outdoor wear.
- JÖR by Guðmundur Jörundsson – Tailored menswear and womenswear label launched 2012, Iceland’s best known contemporary designer export.
- STEiNUNN – Sculptural knitwear house founded 2000 by former Calvin Klein design director Steinunn Sigurðardóttir.
- Vík Prjónsdóttir – Design collective since 2005, known for wool wing-shaped blankets and folklore-inspired accessories.
- As We Grow – Slow fashion label founded 2012, making alpaca and organic cotton pieces sized to grow with children.
- Nikita – Women’s streetwear and snowboard apparel brand started 1999, built by riders for riders.
- Kron by Kronkron – Colorful footwear and clothing label since 2008, known for playful prints and layered textures.
- Anita Hirlekar – Luxury womenswear label established 2014, built around handmade textiles and unconventional color work.
- Ígló & Indí – Ethical kidswear brand founded 2008, known for handmade illustrations and organic fabrics.
Icelandic Clothing Brands to Know
These twelve brands cover the full range of Icelandic fashion, from century-old outerwear houses to independent studios working out of Reykjavik.
66°North
Location: Reykjavik, Iceland
Founded: 1926
Price level: high
Product type: technical outerwear
Style: performance, heritage
Website: 66north.com
Instagram: @66north
Hans Kristjánsson founded 66°North to protect Icelandic fishermen from the North Atlantic, and that survival-first mindset still defines the brand a century later. The company builds its reputation on genuine technical performance rather than borrowed outdoor aesthetics, and it backs that with a sustainable production commitment that includes repair services and a stated goal of zero waste.
That combination of functional credibility and environmental accountability made 66°North Iceland’s most internationally recognized fashion export. The brand now sells across Europe and North America while keeping its origin story, dressing people for genuinely dangerous conditions, at the center of its marketing.
Cintamani
Location: Kópavogur, Iceland
Founded: 1989
Price level: high
Product type: outdoor apparel
Style: technical, Arctic
Website: cintamani.is
Instagram: @cintamani_iceland
Cintamani built its name on merino wool base layers designed to hold up under the harshest Arctic weather Iceland can produce. The brand takes its name from a Sanskrit term meaning jewel of good wishes, a detail that hints at the founders’ broader design philosophy beyond pure function.
Where 66°North leans into heritage storytelling, Cintamani stays closer to pure technical performance across jackets, base layers, and parkas. That focus made it a trusted choice among Icelandic hikers and mountaineers long before outdoor gear became a mainstream fashion category.
Icewear
Location: Iceland
Founded: 1984
Price level: medium
Product type: wool and outerwear
Style: traditional, functional
Website: icewear.is
Instagram: @icewear.is
Icewear grew out of Iceland’s older wool manufacturing industry before establishing itself as its own outerwear label in 1984. The brand still leans heavily on traditional lopapeysa sweater construction while expanding into technical jackets and parkas for broader outdoor use.
That dual identity, part heritage knitwear producer and part modern outdoor brand, gives Icewear a wider price range than most Icelandic labels. It remains one of the more accessible entry points into authentic Icelandic wool product.
Farmers Market
Location: Reykjavik, Iceland
Founded: 2005
Price level: high
Product type: clothing and knitwear
Style: Nordic heritage, contemporary
Website: farmersmarket.is
Instagram: @farmersmarketclothing
Designer Bergthora Gudnadottir and musician Jóel Pálsson founded Farmers Market to move away from fast-moving global fashion cycles and back toward Icelandic roots. The brand mixes local wool with merino from Australia and raw silk from India, treating sustainable sourcing as a design constraint rather than a marketing line.
That approach produced a brand that feels distinctly Icelandic without relying only on wool sweaters. Farmers Market now operates out of a former fish factory in Reykjavik’s old harbour district, a location that mirrors its whole design philosophy of heritage reworked for modern life.
JÖR by Guðmundur Jörundsson
Location: Reykjavik, Iceland
Founded: 2012
Price level: luxury
Product type: tailored clothing
Style: menswear-led, sharp tailoring
Website: jorstudios.is
Instagram: @jorstudios
Guðmundur Jörundsson launched JÖR after building a following designing suits at a Reykjavik menswear shop, and he found an investor to back his own label within two years. His aesthetic favors fitted, sleek tailoring that borrows from both tuxedo and trenchcoat silhouettes, worn across both men’s and women’s collections.
That confident, tailored point of view made JÖR the name most international press points to as Iceland’s contemporary luxury clothing brand export. Guðmundur exported the label deliberately from the start, a rarer move for a fashion scene his size.
STEiNUNN
Location: Reykjavik, Iceland
Founded: 2000
Price level: luxury
Product type: knitwear
Style: sculptural, avant-garde
Website: steinunn.com
Instagram: @steinunndesign
Steinunn Sigurðardóttir learned to knit from her grandmother at age nine, then went on to work as a design director for Calvin Klein before returning to Iceland to launch her own label. That background shows in work that treats knitwear as sculpture, using unexpected materials like fish skin and sheer fabric alongside traditional wool.
Her signature cable knits earned her the nickname the Cable Queen during her time in New York, and collections like the Lava Glass and Black Snow series draw directly from Iceland’s volcanic landscape. STEiNUNN remains one of the few Icelandic labels operating at genuine international luxury level.
Vík Prjónsdóttir
Location: Reykjavik, Iceland
Founded: 2005
Price level: high
Product type: knitwear and accessories
Style: folklore, conceptual
Website: vikprjonsdottir.is
Instagram: @vikprjonsdottir
Designers Brynhildur Pálsdóttir, Guðfinna Mjöll Magnúsdóttir, and Þuríður Sigurþórsdóttir started Vík Prjónsdóttir with a clear mission: use design to revive Iceland’s declining wool industry. Their best known pieces, wing-shaped blankets sized to match the wingspan of eagles they watched in the Westfjords, turned that mission into genuinely original product.
The studio works directly with Iceland’s largest knitwear producer to keep manufacturing local, and each collection ties back to a specific piece of Icelandic folklore or nature. That storytelling approach has earned the group multiple Icelandic design awards since launching.
As We Grow
Location: Reykjavik, Iceland
Founded: 2012
Price level: high
Product type: childrenswear and adult knitwear
Style: slow fashion, heirloom
Website: aswegrow.is
Instagram: @aswegrow
As We Grow started from the true story of a hand-knitted sweater passed between children across several countries for almost a decade. That idea of clothing built to outlast a single child became the brand’s entire design system, with each size covering roughly three standard children’s sizes.
Alpaca, organic cotton, and linen replace synthetic fibers throughout the collection, and the brand frames every piece as a future heirloom rather than a disposable purchase. That positioning won As We Grow the top spot at the Icelandic Design Awards within five years of launching.
Nikita
Location: Reykjavik, Iceland
Founded: 1999
Price level: medium
Product type: streetwear and snow apparel
Style: streetwear, action sports
Website: nikitaclothing.com
Instagram: @nikitaclothing
Snowboarder Heiða Birgisdóttir started Nikita in the back of a Reykjavik skate shop after leading snowboard brands told her there was no market for women’s-specific gear. She proved them wrong, building a streetwear and outerwear label that reached roughly 1,500 stores across 30 countries at its peak.
Nikita’s anatomically correct, women’s-specific fit set it apart from the rest of the industry at a time when female riders mostly wore resized men’s gear. That founder-led, problem-first approach made it Iceland’s most commercially successful streetwear export.
Kron by Kronkron
Location: Reykjavik, Iceland
Founded: 2008
Price level: high
Product type: clothing and footwear
Style: colorful, playful
Website: kronkron.com
Instagram: @kronbykronkron
Designer duo Hugrún Árnadóttir and Magni Þorsteinsson launched Kron by Kronkron as a shoe line before expanding into full collections of silk dresses, printed blouses, and layered outerwear. Bold color and unexpected texture combinations define nearly every piece, treating each garment closer to a wearable art object than a basic.
The pair also run Kronkron, a Reykjavik multi-brand boutique that carries international names like Vivienne Westwood alongside their own label. That dual role gave them an early, direct view into what made Icelandic shoppers respond to maximalist design.
Anita Hirlekar
Location: Reykjavik, Iceland
Founded: 2014
Price level: luxury
Product type: womenswear
Style: handmade, textural
Website: anitahirlekar.com
Instagram: @anita_hirlekar
Anita Hirlekar trained at Central Saint Martins in London before returning to Iceland to build her namesake womenswear label. Every textile is developed and made by hand in her own studio, with an unconstrained approach to color that reads as more painterly than most Icelandic fashion.
That craft-first process earned her a spot as one of London Fashion Week’s ones-to-watch designers within two years of graduating. The label still prioritizes longevity and innovative fabrication over seasonal turnover.
Ígló & Indí
Location: Reykjavik, Iceland
Founded: 2008
Price level: medium
Product type: children’s clothing
Style: colorful, illustrated
Website: igloindi.com
Instagram: @igloandindi
Designer Helga Ólafsdóttir founded Ígló & Indí to bring the same craft standards seen in Icelandic adult fashion into children’s clothing. Crisp colors, handmade illustrations, and soft organic fabrics replace the licensed prints and synthetic blends common in mass-market kidswear.
The brand built international reach early, with showrooms placed in London, Antwerp, Los Angeles, Tokyo, and Basel alongside its Reykjavik flagship. That distribution proved a small Icelandic kidswear label could compete internationally without diluting its design identity.
Other Notable Icelandic Clothing Brands
- Spaksmannsspjarir – Iceland’s oldest fashion house, specializing in high-quality, sustainable womenswear over trend-based pieces.
- Hildur Yeoman – Storytelling-driven womenswear label known for hand-illustrated prints and Icelandic Fashion Designer of the Year honors.
- Geysir – Reykjavik retailer and in-house label built around Icelandic wool garments and outdoor accessories.
- KOLBRUN – Slow fashion label founded 2012, producing basics, loungewear, and outerwear in a Reykjavik studio.
- MYRKA – Fashion label from designer Harpa Einarsdóttir, drawing on art and social themes for its collections.
- KALDA – Womenswear brand founded 2016 by designer Katrín Alda, focused on unique, well-made everyday pieces.
Frequently Asked Questions about Icelandic Clothing Brands
66°North is Iceland’s most internationally recognized name, built on nearly a century of technical outerwear for fishermen and mountaineers. JÖR by Guðmundur Jörundsson leads the contemporary tailoring scene, while Nikita became the country’s biggest streetwear export before its acquisition by Amer Sports.
STEiNUNN and Anita Hirlekar both operate at genuine international luxury level, using hand-developed textiles and unconventional materials. JÖR by Guðmundur Jörundsson rounds this group out with sharply tailored menswear and womenswear built for export from day one.
Icewear and Farmers Market both build heavily on traditional lopapeysa sweater construction using Icelandic sheep wool. Vík Prjónsdóttir takes a more conceptual approach, turning the same wool into folklore-inspired blankets and accessories rather than standard garments.
Many independent labels, including Vík Prjónsdóttir and As We Grow, manufacture locally or work directly with Iceland’s small remaining knitwear factories. Larger brands like 66°North and STEiNUNN now produce some collections in Europe or Asia to meet international demand while keeping design and development based in Reykjavik.
Icelandic fashion grew out of genuine necessity, protecting fishermen and farmers from one of Europe’s harshest climates, before Reykjavik’s small creative scene added a playful, storytelling-driven layer on top. That mix of technical performance and handmade artistic expression is hard to find in fashion scenes with larger, more commercial infrastructure.
Icewear and Nikita sit at the more accessible end of Icelandic fashion, both priced for everyday wear rather than luxury positioning. Ígló & Indí offers a similar mid-range price point within children’s clothing, making handmade Icelandic design available without luxury pricing.
