History
Helly Juell Hansen had been at sea since the age of 15; in 1877, at the age of 35, he and his wife Maren Margarethe began producing oilskin jackets, trousers, sou'westers and tarpaulins, made from coarse linen soaked in linseed oil. Over the first five years they sold ca. 10,000 pieces.
In 1878 the company won a diploma for excellence at the Paris Expo, and began exporting its products.
After Helly Juell Hansen's death in 1914, company leadership passed on to his son Leiv Helly-Hansen, an experienced merchant.
In the 1920s a new fabric, which Helly Hansen called Linox, was developed. The surface was glossy and attractive – and, best of all, non-sticky. Over the next 30 years the name Linox would transfer to a PVC (polyvinyl chloride) application.
In 1931 another new fabric, Lin-O-Let, was launched. Very thin and light, it could be made in many colors and was used in waterproof leisure and outdoor clothing for women and children.
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