STORY BEHIND ZIPLONGS
Verdens første Ziplongs® så dagens lys en vinterkveld i 2011. Den kvelden var ikke målet å starte et selskap. Motivasjonen var rett og slett at vi ønsket oss en Ziplongs® til eget bruk. Det var ikke annet å gjøre enn å finne frem symaskinen.
The problem is one everyone knows.
Sometimes it’s too warm for long johns, and sometimes it’s too cold without them.
Shoulder to shoulder on a T-bar lift in Rauland in the winter of 2011, Magnus and Jo decided to do something about it. Countless ideas were tossed around: Velcro, buttons, and a few others so ridiculous we won’t even mention them. Magnus suggested zippers down the side of each leg. Jo was skeptical—surely a cold, stiff zipper against the skin would be uncomfortable.
Luckily, Magnus was stubborn enough to put the idea to the test. He taught himself to sew on YouTube, bought an ordinary zipper, cut open an old Norheim wool long john, and sewed in the zippers. Jo watched the whole process from a kitchen chair, doubtful but curious.
The skepticism quickly turned into pure excitement. The world’s first Ziplongs® didn’t look good by any stretch, but the moment Jo tried it on, he realized how brilliant Magnus’s idea was. It wasn’t uncomfortable—and it worked.
That winter we only had the one pair of Ziplongs®, and we fought over it every weekend. On a ski & sail trip in Lofoten, we saw how jealous our friends were and decided: more people needed access to Ziplongs®.
Our first brand movie from 2018
Next step: find funding, fabrics, and a manufacturer.
Innovation Norway took care of number one, the American textile producer Polartec handled number two, and a somewhat random contact in Estonia became number three.
Together with the manufacturer, we developed the prototype to a level beyond what YouTube tutorials could take us. But convincing designers and the producer to take on the project wasn ’t easy—let alone getting it just right. There was no other product to draw inspiration from, and the zippers made it tricky to achieve perfect fit and comfort.
The first generation actually contained no wool and was made in two different Polartec fabrics. We called one Ziplongs® Active, which was discontinued after two seasons, and the other Ziplongs® Original, which lasted a bit longer but has now also been retired.
When the very first small batch of Ziplongs® arrived in 2012, it was a huge thrill, but conquering the world still wasn’t the plan. Magnus built a simple website, and without warning we sold our first Ziplongs® to a guy from Setesdal who was about to cross Greenland. He wouldn’t be the last.
WOOL IS GOLDEN
In 2014, we developed the first Ziplongs® made from 100% merino wool from the Italian mill Pontetorto. Pure wool has many advantages, but one challenge is that it isn’t as strong as a blended fabric.
From 2015 onward, Ziplongs® were therefore produced with a wool blend for the first time. The goal was to create a “bomb-proof” product that could handle serious wear and tear.
Developing a technical baselayer doesn’t come without growing pains. Since that first Ziplongs® made with wool, polyester, and elastane, we’ve made major improvements over the years. Fit and durability have been in the driver’s seat, and today’s products are the result of countless hours of testing on our own—and, more importantly, constructive feedback from hundreds of customers.
THE NEXT CHAPTER: ZIPBRA
After both Ziplongs® Long and Ziplongs® 3/4 had taken the world by storm, we took the concept a step further—or rather, a step upward. In 2018, we launched our first Zipbra Side: a bra built on the same design principles as Ziplongs®. Easy to take off and easy to put on, without flashing the entire parking lot or mountain peak in the process. Even better—you don’t have to freeze while changing from a sweaty, cold bra to a dry, warm one.
LEGACY
Since the beginning, Ziplongs® have won awards and received top scores in tests around the world. Zipbra™ has followed the same path. Still, the most important feedback comes from our customers: they say they love the products and can’t live without them. That makes us almost embarrassingly proud.
Fourteen years after the Zip adventure began, Northern Playground is no longer first and foremost a technical outdoor brand. But Ziplongs® and Zipbra™ will always be part of us. They are cornerstones of our story and products people still associate with Northern Playground.
And to safeguard that legacy, we trademarked Ziplongs®, making sure no one else in the world can call their imitations by the same name.
