How it started
History
Helly Juell Hansen had been at sea since the age of 14. In 1877 at the age of 35, he and his wife Maren Margarethe produced their first oilskin jackets, trousers, sou'westers and tarpaulins made from coarse linen soaked in linseed oil. Over the first five years they sold around 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. Over the next 30 years the name Linox would transfer to a PVC (polyvinyl chloride) application.
A change for the brand came in 1949 when Helox was developed. The sheet of translucent PVC plastic sewn into waterproof coats and hats became a popular item. About 30,000 Helox coats were produced each month. Plarex, a heavier-duty version of Helox, backed by fabric, was developed for workwear.
From Wikipedia’s article on Helly Hansen, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.2