Two words. One long road.
We started Durable Journey to prove that focus beats complexity. That fewer and better is more honest than more and faster. That a premium brand can be accessible — and transparent — without losing its soul.
How we started
Watching The True Cost
After fourteen years inside the fashion industry, Michael watched two documentaries — The True Cost and Cowspiracy — and could no longer unsee what he had been a part of.
The industry, from the inside, suddenly looked different. Existing structures were built to accelerate consumption, not to slow it down.
Walking out
For five years Michael tried to change things from inside the industry. It didn't work.
So in 2020 he walked out — to look for a different way of building a clothing company. One that didn't begin with a trend forecast and end with a landfill.
Kiss the Ground
Michael teamed up with Klavs Breckling — a mentor from a generation when craftsmanship and decency were the same conversation.
In 2022 they discovered the documentary Kiss The Ground, and with it the regenerative thinking that gave their hunch a direction.
Durable Journey begins
In Odense, Denmark, Michael and Klavs incorporated the company. The brand was built first; the product followed.
One material, chosen deeply. Sold directly. Made with the time it needs.
Ten things we keep coming back to
A manifesto, in the only form we trust: short.
One material, done deeply, is more honest than ten done shallowly.
We chose merino at 17.5 microns. Then we went deeper into a single value chain — and stayed there. The depth, not the breadth, is the point.
Premium is a privilege, not a markup.
Most premium brands run a 4–8× markup. We run roughly 2×. The difference is what we choose to compete on — and what we choose not to.
Transparency is not a campaign. It is a default.
Our internal numbers — revenue, repeat, returns — are shared openly on LinkedIn. Including the parts that aren't working yet. If we believe in transparency, we live it.
A wardrobe is built across years, not seasons.
We design pieces that fit each other across collections. A shirt bought in 2026 should still belong in your wardrobe in 2036.
Complexity is what most brands hide behind.
Fewer products. Fewer suppliers. Fewer materials. Fewer reasons for our customers to wonder what we're really up to.
A product that lasts is the first and last form of sustainability.
Before any certification, the most honest thing a garment can do is to be worn for a long time.
We measure success in second purchases, not first impressions.
Loyalty climbs sharply between purchase one and two. The second piece is the real conversion. The first is just a hello.
Fewer suppliers, known by name.
Uruguay. Biella. Ikast. Ukraine. Every partner is named, every step audited, every relationship long.
Premium without lavishness is the whole point.
Low-impact premium: sobriety, material understanding, consistency. Quality felt in the product — not the packaging.
The point of the journey is the journey.
And — then — a small mountain at the end. Monte Barone, the next one, the one after that.
Three forms of durability
It must outlast the wear.
17.5-micron merino, wear-tested in every batch. Naturally breathable, self-regulating, washed less often than cotton — which means it lives longer, by design.
We work only with pure materials. No synthetic blends, no plastic afterlife.
It must outlast the season.
We design for the wardrobe, not the trend cycle. Silhouettes repeat across years.
The white tee from this year fits the navy knit you bought last year. A piece you buy from us in 2026 should still look right in 2036.
It must outlast itself.
Pure wool returns to the soil. Our garments are made to be undone — no mixed fibres locking them out of the next life.
Cradle to cradle is not a promise on a tag. It is the material decision we made at the very beginning.
We are not a technical outdoor brand. Not a heritage wool house. Not a fashion brand performing sustainability — or a sustainability brand performing fashion.
We are a daily merino wardrobe, sold directly, made transparently, and built slowly.
The compass — where we are walking, and why
What we are building
To build the most considered merino wardrobe in the world — and to sell it directly, transparently, and without complication.
Where we are going
An internationally relevant premium brand built on focus, not complexity.
Proof that slower, smaller and more honest can also be ambitious.
What you can hold us to
Pure materials. Named partners. Open numbers. A garment from us is meant to be in your wardrobe for years — and to return to the soil at the end.
How we work
Few products. Few partners. Few seasons. A 2× markup where the industry runs 4–8×. A return rate of 3.4% where industry sits at 26–30%.
Slowness, as a strategy.
The journey
From documentary to direction. From decision to durability.
A documentary changes a mind.
Michael watches The True Cost and Cowspiracy. The fashion industry, from the inside, suddenly looks different.
Walking out.
After fourteen years, leaves the industry to look for a way of building a clothing company that doesn't begin with acceleration.
A direction appears.
The documentary Kiss The Ground introduces regenerative thinking — and the path becomes clear.
Durable Journey is founded.
Michael and Klavs incorporate the company in Odense, Denmark. The brand is built first; the product follows.
The first merino product ships.
A 100% merino t-shirt — knitted in Ikast, sewn in Europe, sold directly. The model becomes real.
Product and market, both validated.
1,822 customers across 17 months. A 3.4% return rate where industry sits at 26–30%. Repeat purchases that grow with every visit.
The wardrobe widens.
Women's collection launches. Brand investment deepens. The regenerative house in Odense opens its doors as studio and showroom.
Across borders, slowly.
A Series A funds international expansion — country by country, never all at once.
Proof, not just growth.
A premium brand built on focus, not complexity. Internationally relevant. Still small enough to know everyone's name.
A small company, on purpose
Michael Vikkelsø Rasmussen
Fourteen years inside fashion before walking out. Holds the strategy, the economics, and the investor conversations.
Writes openly about the company's numbers on LinkedIn — because if we believe in transparency, we live it.
"I left because I couldn't keep being part of the acceleration. I started this so I wouldn't have to."
Klavs Breckling
More than forty years inside textile manufacturing, from a generation when craftsmanship and decency were the same conversation.
Holds product, supply chain, and the relationship with every mill, dyer, knitter and sewer in our value chain.
"The makers know more than the marketers. We just have to listen."
Hanne
The eye that says yes or no to every batch before it reaches you. Quality control, fit consistency, and the boring, beautiful work of making sure the second piece you buy from us fits as well as the first.
"Premium is a thousand small details, every time. There is no shortcut."
Daniel Nissen Lauritsen
Joined in 2026 to give our visual world the same care our material gets. Photographs, films, and the slow, considered storytelling that lets the product speak for itself instead of shouting over it.
"The job is to get out of the product's way."
Whether you buy a single shirt or watch from a distance, this works better with you nearby.
No rush.
