Today’s topic is an exciting one for me. I’m going to introduce you to the Finnish sneaker & street wear brand Karhu. Karhu meaning bear in Finnish, was established in 1916 as a sports goods company. The brand has already in its early days been seen on Finnish athletes at the 1920 Olympics (they won five gold metals) and at the 1924 Olympics, when runner Paavo Nurmi won five gold metals wearing Karhu running spikes. Another fun fact; Karhu sold their trademark at the time, which was “three stripes” to Adidas in 1952 for 1600 euros and two bottles of whiskey. I wonder if they regret that decision…
I visited Karhu’s flagship store in Helsinki which is located at Lasipalatsi, Mannerheimintie 22-24.
This is the place where you can find the best selection of Karhu sneakers for sure.
The famous three stripes they sold…
A variety of the sneaker model known as Karhu Originals.
Two of my favorite pairs at the store:
The shop has a cool display of Karhu’s history with various other products than just sneakers, such as t-shirts, hoodies, jackets, socks and mugs.
Karhu is a pride for me and many other Finns, as I personally like to support Finnish businesses. It’s great to see a brand that’s important to Finland’s sport history do well, even globally. I hope I got at least one more person interested in this quality brand.
-Siri
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