Kanuk, the Montreal outerwear brand founded in 1974, is making its move on the United States. WWD reports that the brand hosts an event in New York this week, cohosted by Elisa Dahan, its president since owner Thread Collective acquired the company in 2024. Dahan also cofounded Mackage. Kanuk's US retail today is online only, through its own webstore and Nordstrom, and Dahan told the paper that a wholesale push follows: "But this is the real launch."
The brand's case lives in its archive products. Kanuk built its name on the Taiga Parka, a winter coat with a seamless body, a moisture-resistant lining and a Sherpa-lined collar, and it stamps every piece with the Snowy Owl emblem. Dahan is steering the label back to those signatures with "a touch of workwear, a touch of comfort, a touch of cozy and layering." She is not alone in looking there. "The younger generation's interest in Kanuk's heritage jackets was very telling," she told WWD. "Those pieces have such a distinctive character, particularly the Sherpa collars with the owl emblem."
On the index, Kanuk returns no listings. The searches around the brand move: a taiga search returns 165 listings and a sherpa search returns 98, none of them Kanuk production. Until the relaunch stock reaches stores, the pieces with the owl and the Sherpa collar live on the vintage side of the market.