In The News
Longmont, Colorado - 2006

Icelandic Design's artisan knits, that weave together the best of Old World traditions with modern design and color palettes, are poised for continued growth in 2006 and solidifying their year-round offering of sweaters.

Starting the company over 20 years ago, Kristjánsdøttir, traveled to craft fairs and home parties, selling sweaters hand-knit by her mother and other Iceland-based family and friends. After a decade of retailing, the growing popularity of their timeless, wearable art within the ski and outdoor industries led to a shift in focus to wholesale. At about the same time, knitting operations were moved to Asia, where they remain today.

In spite of this new expansion and a sales curve that points steadily upward, Kristjánsdøttir continues to draw on her Icelandic heritage and values for inspiration as she over sees product design and the day to day running of the company. Today, distribution comprises nearly 1,200 specialty stores in the U.S. and Canada, premier national catalogs like Coldwater Creek and retail powerhouses such as Nordstrom in this country, and its equivalent in Iceland.

Icelandic Design has been cited as one of the Top-10 Women-owned businesses in Boulder County, Colorado for two years running. Recently, Gerdur was joined by her daughter, Kristin Quigley to help run the business, and has brought talent from other high fashion sweater companies into the design, merchandising and marketing departments at Icelandic.

Icelandic Design continues to attract a more broad-based customer. The increasing popularity of casual dressing in the workplace, a desire to create warmth and comfort around oneself and the related resurgence of sweaters have contributed to the company's 15 percent growth each of the past two years, even in the face of the current recession. "Our sweaters make a very strong statement about the integrity and individuality of the women who wear them and those features are very appealing to today's women," says Kristjánsdøttir. Socio-cultural factors also give Icelandic Design reason for optimism. "We think a key factor in today's marketplace is the increased need for people to reconnect with the natural world and feel comforted, warm and safe, says Kristjánsdøttir. "The appeal of our sweaters, jackets and accessories is in the way they harken back to a less busy time, when people appreciated design integrity, rich textures and timeless styles."