Klättermusen chief executive officer: ‘We are not a brand for everyone’

Swedish premium mountaineering brand Klättermusen is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year and has big plans for the coming years. It is currently launching an international retail offensive and has founded its own travel division.

Klättermusen – which translates to ‘climbing mouse’ – has always seen itself as an independent outdoor brand with a particular penchant for unconventionality. This is evident in the product design: instead of conforming to the mainstream outdoor market, the brand has developed and maintained its own design language over the years. Characteristic elements such as diagonal zips and asymmetrical cuts remain hallmarks of the collection.

Klättermusen also deliberately takes alternative and often more environmentally friendly approaches when it comes to its choice of materials. As a pioneer in sustainability, the brand switched completely to organic cotton back in 2006 and has been using recycled nylon from old fishing nets for its rucksacks since 2008. The range even includes technical jackets made from organic cotton. Klättermusen was also one of the first brands to launch PFAS-free collections.

Chief executive officer Gonz Ferrero has been heading the company, which was majority-acquired by the Swedish private equity firm Scope in 2013, for 10 years. To mark the opening of the first store in Germany in Munich in April, FashionUnited asked Ferrero about his other plans for the brand.

You have just opened your first German store in Munich. Why there?

When we began developing our retail strategy, which we always knew would be an important piece of the puzzle as a premium brand, we looked at cities where our customers live and where our target audience lives. Munich was at the top of the list in Europe because, in addition to being a gateway to the mountains, it also has a high density of people who fit Klättermusen's customer base—independent thinkers, culturally conscious, and environmentally conscious.

How many stores do you have worldwide?

We currently have one store in Germany, six in Europe and 14 worldwide.

What other plans do you have for retail?

We want to make Klättermusen accessible and approachable for our existing and potential customers in Europe, but also worldwide. We have very good indications that the response to our brand and our values ​​is very positive when we do this in our own way. So we have some good ideas for how to continue this.

Do you plan to open more stores in Germany or other European cities?

Yes, we are opening a branch in Berlin in June, and we have plans for other cities, but that's still a secret.

What do you mean by doing it your own way? What sets Klättermusen’s retail strategy apart from others?

You'll have to find out for yourself by coming to our store.

What type of retailers are you looking for to distribute your brand? Or are you mainly focusing on your own D2C channels?

We're looking for specialist retailers where customers can discover new brands, learn more about the details, and find inspiration. There are many multi-brand retailers that excel at presenting brands and inspiring people, and we want to build a close relationship and a long-term perspective with them.

Our distribution strategy is aligned with our target customers and the locations and channels where they can discover, explore, and experience premium mountaineering products. This varies by region, country, and even city, and also depends on the customer's age. Of course, we're still in the early stages of retail.

How is it that Klättermusen is already so big in Asia?

We have our own stores in Europe, China, Korea, and Japan. Klättermusen isn't much bigger in China than it is [in Germany], just more visible. This is simply due to the unique dynamics of this market and how it functions. We've been operating in China for nine years and in Korea for seven years, while we're just getting started in the UK, Germany, and the US.

How would you describe Klättermusen’s philosophy? What sets the brand apart from other outdoor brands?

We're a specialised brand with a unique perspective on materials, design aesthetics, and, most importantly, activities. I believe that to create great products, we need to be focused and confident in our unique perspective, with its pros and cons. We're not a brand for everyone, not for every activity, and not even for every variation of an activity. But what we do, we do with a lot of dedication and tenacity, and I believe this attitude is a differentiator.

How would you describe your target audience?

I've talked about this a little bit before, but generally, these are people who understand or have a predisposition to understand how we make our products and what our brand values ​​mean, not just the products we make. Our customers are very detail-oriented, very thoughtful, and very nerdy when it comes to what they like, dislike, or want to like.

How do you position the brand in terms of performance and lifestyle? The gorpcore trend has given traditional small brands in particular a chance to make a comeback. Is that part of your strategy?

We make mountaineering products and try to present them in a way that is relevant to people.

There's no comeback for Klättermusen because we never left. We don't make non-technical or lifestyle products, so we're not changing anything from that perspective. We inspire people with different comfort needs in the outdoor and mountaineering world, but we do so with highly technical products—that hasn't changed in 50 years.

Sustainability has always been one of the brand’s core values. Is this issue still important?

Of course, it's a core value. It's 2025, and I don't believe in boasting about things that I simply consider fundamental. It's an aspect we consider in everything we do every day, and we constantly strive to do as much as possible while maintaining our brand promise of maximum safety and high-quality technical products.

Is there any news regarding sustainability? For example, new, more sustainable products, or processes that you are implementing in the new collection?

We have updates on sustainability every season, as this topic is firmly embedded in our product and material development philosophy. Perhaps most notable is our new glove range, with which we've created an environmentally friendly alternative to leather that's also more durable and abrasion-resistant.

What other plans and news can you tell us about?

This year, we launched a travel division of Klättermusen, Klättermusen Experience, and developed a dedicated website for it. We organise mountain tours in Scandinavia and invite people to experience our homeland in harmony with our values—a blend of the Scandinavian way of life, our nature, and our culture. We focus on environmentally conscious and responsibly curated trips designed to create deep human connections. We offer eight experiences ranging from ski touring to mountain biking and kayaking to wilderness camping.