Karhu

SNEAKERS FROM FINLAND

Karhu is one of the world’s first sneaker brands and can be traced back to 1916 when it was founded in Finland. Karhu means bear in Finnish and must be associated with the bear’s superior strength and the symbol of a winner. Karhu sneakers have a great story and in fact, they have also “helped” – or more inspired – the big players on the sneaker market like Adidas & Nike. It can be mentioned that Karhu sneakers were originally characterized by having three stripes on the side. In 1951, Karhu sold the 3 stripes to the then small German brand Adidas, at a price equal to 1600 euros and 2 bottles of whiskey. Since then, they have used the current “M” which is the symbol of mountains. The well-known Air Max sneaker from Nike is characterized by a visible air cushion in the sole, this function was actually invented by Karhu.