The Inspiring Story of our founder Kari Traa 

From Olympic Champion to Women's Sportswear:

Kari Traa is not just a three-time Olympic medalist, but also the founder of Europe's fastest-growing women's sports brand. Her inspiring story started in the mountainous village of Voss, Norway, where she was born with skis on her feet. Her overpowering talent for particularly bumpy trails led her to become an Olympic champion mogul skier in 2002. 

Kari's entrepreneurial spirit shone through even during her skiing career. When sponsors finally came on the scene with clothing for athletes, it was only designed for the men's team. Kari, with an enormous creative power and a good eye for design, crocheted and knitted her own beanies during training and competitions. Her colorful beanies became so popular with friends and skiers that she decided to turn the hobby into a business. And so, the Kari Traa brand was born. 

Inspiring other women to dare to follow their dreams has always been a great motivator for Kari. After winning silver at the 2006 Olympics in Turin, there were no female skiers to pick up the baton after her retirement. To recruit new talent to the freestyle skiing sport, she teamed up with the Norwegian Ski Federation and Olympiatoppen to start her own ski team for girls. Today we can see a number of new ski talents thanks to this, including Hedwig Wessel, who placed third in the freestyle world-cup in 2016 and ranked number two in 2021 worldwide.

The Kari Traa brand outgrew Norway's borders long ago and is now well established in twelve other European countries, with growth in all markets. In 2015, Kari Traa was launched on the US market and has gained popularity among active girls. All over the world today, Kari Traa's playful and courageous spirit embodies the brand's ambassadors, focusing on the goal of equalizing gender and power imbalances in sports and societies at large.