With the rise of outdoor apparel worn by casual consumers who might only need a rain jacket to take a walk around the block, brands in the industry have a choice to make.

They can chase the fashion trend and try to appeal to the person who wants to look outdoorsy but never gets on the trail with less technical offerings that dilute the potency of their brand. Or, they can stay focused on the core consumer, and if people want to wear their specialized technical apparel and outerwear to walk the dog, so be it.

Outdoor apparel and gear company Rab is taking the latter approach.

“Our ambition is to be a technical, mountain apparel and gear company for mountain people who love and are passionate about these activities,” said Rab’s North America brand leader Adam Chamberlain.

That means whether the customer is new to the activity or doing it at a hardcore level, Rab intends to supply them with performance clothing and gear.

Rab’s strategy seems to be working. Several outdoor specialty retailers across the U.S. have told The Daily that customers are loving their products, especially hardcore outdoor enthusiasts seeking fresh alternatives to legacy brands.

The Daily visited Rab’s U.S. headquarters in Louisville, Colorado, to speak with Chamberlain about the brand’s mission, how business is going, and what it’s working on for 2025.

Business is Up

Rab’s headquarters are in Somercotes, England. The company has been selling in the U.S. market for 15 years.

Chamberlain said year-over-year business is up in the low double-digits. Rab has strong bookings for Spring and Fall 2024, and is seeing good ASAP volume, he added.

Photo courtesy of Rab.

That means once a retailer sells through their Rab gear, they’re reordering more product, even though many stores are reporting challenging business conditions.

Chamberlain said retailers have been increasing their Rab assortments despite softer consumer demand.

Cracking the U.S. Market

That’s not to say there haven’t been challenges breaking into the U.S. market.

“In the USA, we love our heritage brands like Patagonia and The North Face,” Chamberlain said. “It takes a while to build trust and to build brand awareness.”

Trust is built year after year by building beautiful products that perform well, according to Chamberlain.

Photo courtesy of Rab.

All of Rab’s products, including sleeping bags, backpacks, shells, and mid-layers, are built with a three-year lifecycle. The brand’s line has expanded as its relationship with retailers has deepened, Chamberlain said.

In the U.S., Rab sells about 75%-80% of the products in its entire global assortment.

“There are styles and categories that we don’t bring in because we don’t feel that the market needs those styles just yet,” he said.

Jockeying for Market Share in Outdoor Industry

Rab has also benefited as other, larger brands seek out new customers. As those brands grow and become more well-known, core consumers have sought out new alternatives, including up-and-coming brands from Europe and elsewhere.

“Certainly, there are different pressures when you’re appealing to college students and gorpcore and Wall Street and Silicon Valley as well as your core consumers,” Chamberlain said. “We’ve seen migration of these brands. Some of it has been their decision in terms of chasing opportunity. In other cases, it’s just that they’ve been adopted and co-opted by other, larger user groups.”

Photo courtesy of Rab.

This seems to be the natural progression of many brands in the industry.

“There are examples of companies trying to stay small and stay in their lane, but that is very unusual,” Chamberlain said. “(Companies) want to grow and progress.”

It is impossible to become a household name and stay the type of brand that core consumers whisper about around the campfire, he added.

Despite the recent success, Rab still wants to be the brand that gets talked about in the outdoor enthusiast community.

“There’s a great sweet spot to be building great products at a great value that are tools for people to have great adventures outside,” Chamberlain said. “That’s our jam. That’s what gets us excited.”

Advice From Retailers: “Stay in Your Lane”

When Chamberlain speaks with retailers, the common refrain is, “Stay in your lane.”

“Know who you are. Don’t try to be something you’re not,” Chamberlain said. “How you build a brand is you have to focus on your strength. You have to have a product that you do best.”

Rab sees its advantage in insulation, especially with its jackets. Chamberlain pointed to last month’s review of the Rab Mythic G Down Jacket on CNN.com, which was titled “One puffy to rule them all.”

High praise considering the puffy jacket space is well-saturated at this point.

“We are competing in one of the most competitive chunks of the outdoor apparel market,” Chamberlain said.

Photo courtesy of Rab.

Now that Rab has “established that beachhead” in the U.S., Chamberlain said, the brand has been able to play in other categories, including shells, mid-layers, and pants.

“What’s exciting about that article is it starts to get that word out there that there are other products too from this brand Rab that are consequential and make a difference,” Chamberlain said.

Another component of that success is that Rab’s prices are not at the very top of the range, but they’re also not inexpensive. The Mythic G Down jacket sells for $525 at retail.

“We’re trying to be achievable by folks who are defining their lives by climbing, backcountry skiing, outdoor activities like that, and for whom every dollar really counts,” Chamberlain said.

Renewed Focus for 2025

For 2025, Rab is drawing on its expertise with packs, not only from its brand, but from sister brand Lowe Alpine, to add more technical backpacks to its line.

The backpack segment is another one with tough competition in the U.S., but Rab believes the equipment business is complementary to its apparel offerings.

“It’s part of maintaining and building our authenticity,” Chamberlain said. “At the end of the day, we want to outfit our climbers and skiers and hikers and trail runners with great, high-quality gear.”

Photo courtesy of Rab.

Rab has also refreshed its shell offerings with waterproof, breathable membranes due to the ongoing PFAS regulatory changes affecting the entire industry.

“We’ve taken the opportunity to reimagine the shell collection,” Chamberlain said. The jackets run from about $140 to $340 depending on features.

Rab is also adding a new category called Momentum, which is designed to bridge the gap between mountain activities and trail running.

“It’s a modern mountain wear collection. It’s not designed for casual, barbecue-type activity,” Chamberlain said. “It’s designed for mountain people. For people who are climbing, backpacking, trekking, living an adventurous life. All synthetics, but a lot of Tencel and modern fit and features.”

The line is also fitting with the trend of being able to wear an apparel item on the crag as well as at the coffee shop after the climb.

This is all part of Rab’s “two-way street” with retailers. As the brand grows in popularity and drives meaningful revenue for them, adding categories for fans of the brand makes sense, according to Chamberlain.

“We want to figure out how to be an even stronger partner and have license to do more with packs and sleeping bags and other categories,” he said. “Remove as many obstacles as possible to get the Rab brand out to consumers.”