Sports Trader reports back : New developments from Karrimor

“The heart of the Karrimor brand has always been in backpacks and backpacking,” says Gary Bardsley, head of Karrimor. Karrimor’s pinnacle backpack piece for 2012 is the Jaguar ST 79 95. The X-Lite category is the range of lightweight backpacks made from the lightest materials suitable for backpacking, climbing-specific, day-walking and running. Karrimor has an Air-Space back system which allows four-way airflow between the back of the pack and the back of the wearer.

Karrimor is introducing 2 new ladies specific 30L and 20L day-packs with S shaped shoulder harnesses and women’s specific hip belts for the 2012 season. “Karrimor has had a lot of development in the ladies market focusing on women’s specific designs,” says Bardsley. “A lot of the success we’ve been experiencing in the ladies market can be attributed to our sponsorship with England’s Bonita Norris.”

Karrimor’s latest sponsored athlete, Bonita Norris, became the youngest British woman to summit Everest in 2010, the youngest woman to reach the false summit of Mt Manaslu in the Himalayas in 2009 at the age of 21 and has just completed her latest challenge by reaching the North Pole on a recent expedition.

Karrimor is launching into cycling in 2012 with their new Re-feul range with ballistic fabrics, bladders and hydration systems. They also have new developments in their urban and travel ranges.

“One of the key areas for Karrimor Footwear is multi-sport,” says Simon Wilkinson, head of Karrimor footwear international. Karrimor has developed a new outsole in conjunction with Vibram for their walking/mid-cut hiking footwear. Karrimor reports that they have had a lot of success with their footwear with women’s specific lasts, outsoles and designs.

“One of the key updates of our summer sandals range is our double lasted designs, partnering with Vibram and Wolverine leather,” says Wilkinson. “Water-shoes and closed-toe sandals has been an area of great success for us. Our top-end classic women’s sandals has proved a best-seller with their functional yet slightly younger style designs. We are also bringing in more lifestyle colours into our functional sandals. Our Micro-collection of sandals has all the technical attributes one would expect from the Karrimor brand, however we are trying to develop products that are more casual in its styling but would also be able to be used as an all-day walking/hiking/traveling shoe.”