KMD Brands, formerly Kathmandu Holdings, is a global outdoor, lifestyle and sports company consisting of three brands: Kathmandu, Rip Curl and Oboz. Kathmandu was founded in 1987 in New Zealand and specialises in clothing and equipment for travel and the outdoors. Oboz, part of the group since 2018, is based in North America and designs wilderness footwear. Rip Curl, acquired in 2019, is a global surf brand founded in Bells Beach, Australia in 1969. KMD Brands is global business.

History

Kathmandu was founded by John Pawson and

Jan Cameron Jan Cameron is a New Zealand-Australian businesswoman and formerly Australia's fourth-richest woman. She made her fortune as the founder of the Kathmandu clothing and outdoor equipment company. She currently lives in Bicheno, Tasmania. She ru ...

in 1987 following their sale of the ALP Sports Clothing label. The company set up its first retail outlets in Australia, whilst manufacturing most of its original clothing range in New Zealand. Bernard Wicht, owner of Alpine Accoutrements, had been the main manufacturer for ALP Sports but continued to manufacture for Kathmandu and also partnered with Penny Hazard to set up the Bivouac chain of stores in New Zealand. In 1992 Kathmandu, having established a strong operation in Australia (with stores in

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

and

Canberra Canberra ( ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...

) re-entered the New Zealand retail marketplace, purchasing Alps Sports from its receivers and brought in Bernard Wicht to join John Pawson and Jan Cameron as a third shareholder. In 2006,

Quadrant Private Equity Quadrant Private Equity (also simply known as Quadrant) is an Australian private equity investment firm based in Sydney, Australia. The company was founded as Quadrant Capital in 1996 by Chris Hadley. Quadrant hosts multiple investment funds w ...

bought the company for NZ$275 million, after Cameron had previously sold half of her business. Wicht was the owner of both the Fairydown and

Macpac Macpac Wilderness Equipment is a brand specialising in outdoor recreational equipment. It is best known for camping and travel equipment including backpacks, sleeping bags and technical clothing. Macpac was originally a New Zealand company, but ...

brands until 2015. Kathmandu was listed on the Australian and New Zealand stock exchanges in November 2009. From 2017 to 2019, Kathmandu had naming rights for the Coast to Coast race in New Zealand. Kathmandu announced the purchase of Oboz Footwear in March 2018. Oboz is an outdoor footwear brand based in Montana, U.S. Its marketing stresses sustainability and product innovation, such as through its support for like Trees for the Future and Small Woods, which both advocate for sustainable

forestry Forestry is the science and craft of creating, managing, planting, using, conserving and repairing forests, woodlands, and associated resources for human and environmental benefits. Forestry is practiced in plantations and natural stands. Th ...

. In February 2019, Kathmandu launched a series with National Geographic, called ''Eco Traveller'', which focuses on eco-friendly travel and

sustainable tourism Sustainable tourism is a concept that covers the complete tourism experience, including concern for economic, social and environmental issues as well as attention to improving tourists' experiences and addressing the needs of host communities. Su ...

. ''Eco Traveller'' is hosted by Nick Saxon from National Geographic. In October 2019, Kathmandu announced it would buy 100% of Australian surf brand

Rip Curl Rip Curl is a designer, manufacturer, and retailer of Surfing#Equipment, surfing sportswear (also known as ''boardwear'') and accompanying products, and a major athletic sponsor. Rip Curl has become one of the largest surfing companies in Aust ...

for A$350m. In March 2022, Kathmandu Holdings was rebranded KMD Brands.

Wage subsidy controversy

Like other businesses operating in New Zealand, Kathmandu received sizeable financial support from the New Zealand government in the form of wage subsidies for its employees across New Zealand. This was part of a wider policy of

economic stimulus In economics, stimulus refers to attempts to use monetary policy or fiscal policy (or stabilization policy in general) to stimulate the economy. Stimulus can also refer to monetary policies such as lowering interest rates and quantitative easi ...

for large and small businesses following the

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

outbreak and the resulting downturn in the economy. As part of this programme, Kathmandu Group received $6.2 million from New Zealand taxpayers in 2020. However, despite subsequently posting a profit of NZ $31.5 million, Kathmandu management refused to repay the funds even though the company had enjoyed a profitable year. This decision was condemned on both sides of the political spectrum in New Zealand with the two

major parties A major party is a political party that holds substantial influence in a country's politics, standing in contrast to a minor party. According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary: Major parties hold a significant percentage of the vote in electi ...

describing it as unfair. Kathmandu's decision was also labelled as an example of the "waste" and "fraud" in the wage subsidy scheme

treasury A treasury is either *A government department related to finance and taxation, a finance ministry. *A place or location where treasure, such as currency or precious items are kept. These can be state or royal property, church treasure or in p ...

had earlier warned of.

History

Wage subsidy controversy

References

External links