KARHU BRAND. FROM FINLAND, HELSINKI TO THE WHOLE WORLD

Karhu , a Finnish sports equipment company currently focused on running.

The brand was founded in 1916 by Ab sportartiklar Oy with the name “Oy Urheilutarpeita” in the center of Helsinki. Four years later, the brand became known as Karhu, which means bear in Finnish.

What the brand manufactured in its early days:

1. The brand's initial flagship products were manufactured using locally sourced birch, resulting in products such as:

• The javelins
• The skis
• The records

• They also manufactured running shoes and athletic spikes.

The brand's golden moment:

The brand name caused a sensation when, in 1920 and 1924, along with Karhu javelins, spikes, and shoes, Finnish athletes achieved:

• In 1920, three gold medals in javelin

• In 1920, "The Flying Finns" won 5 gold medals thanks to Karhu spikes.

• In 1924, at the Summer Olympic Games, athlete Paavo Nurmi won five gold medals wearing Karhu shoes.

These events meant that over time, the brand gained popularity and gradually became more well-known, but it wasn't until 1950 that changes began...

One of those times was when Karhu decided to sell his three-stripe trademark to a company focused on sports footwear, Adidas.

The next change to the brand came over the years, specifically in 1960, when Karhu decided to register its symbol used on the running shoes manufactured at that time that endure to this day, containing a meaning in honor of its past “Mestari” meaning “Champion”.

Subsequently, from 1960 to the present day, Karhu has continuously innovated, constantly making changes to the brand in order to improve the comfort, essence, look and profile of its products. Some of these changes were the following:

1. In 1970: The development of a new "Air Cushion" midsole

1. In 1986: The implementation of a damping system

1. In 2018: Ortix Fit, a technology based on the experience of more than 2 million runners, shaping the volumes of the midsole and adapting to the feet of the users.

Now that you know the origins and evolution of the Finnish brand that thundered and resounded in the stadiums of the 1920 and 1924 Olympics, winning countless gold medals, would you like to apply your knowledge to the designs of their products? If so, here are a few things for you!

First, we'll give you some clean, comfortable, and wonderful shoes!

Karhu Fusion 2.0 Lily White F804118

These sneakers pay homage to the Karhu Fusion, an original shoe from 1996 considered the best running shoe, now refurbished with a modern touch in a combination of dark and light cream colors, while of course maintaining the brand's essence. Can you tell us which one?

We hope you enjoyed the post about Karhu! If you'd like to learn more about their products and collections, you can find the available collections here!

• Karhu T-shirt Collection
• Karhu sweatshirt collection
• Karhu sneaker collection

Among the models of sneakers from the Karhu brand, we can highlight the following:

• Karhu Albatross
• Karhu Fusion 2.0
• Karhu Mestari