Leading outdoors brand Jack Wolfskin has announced that it's embracing a new look and different direction for Fall Winter 22/23. As well as unveiling a refreshed logo and a new tagline – "We live to discover" – it has become the latest brand to officially embrace a sustainability ethos, and has also narrowed its remit to a more focused collection of outdoor activities.
Jack Wolfskin features in our best fleece jacket and best waterproof jacket guides, as well as making some excellent hiking backpacks, but hasn't always had the clearest brand identity, so we were interested to see this development.
The new logo isn't too much of a departure from the original branding, although that was starting to look a little dated, and in need of a revamp. The refreshed version is cleaner, slightly pared back, and more modern. The paw print has also endured, although – based on the imagery we've been sent, anyway – it has moved from its odd position as a sort of awkward tittle replacement into a separate standalone graphic.
We're not huge fans of the paw print as a logo, not least because it can easily be assumed to be a dog print. In fact, we only really twigged that it was a wolf print when this press release landed in our inbox. But perhaps that's just us. Either way, it is very solidly associated with the Jack Wolfskin brand, so perhaps a step too far to drop it altogether.
Old logo (top) and the refreshed version
Alongside the new look comes a refined brand focus. "We live to discover" is all about broadening your horizons, and in that spirit, Jack Wolfskin will be concentrating its efforts on a handful of specific activities, including hiking, biking, trekking, and ski touring. Namely, those ones that are all about exploring new places. "We encourage people to go out and discover their surroundings – near and far," says CEO Richard Collier. "The joy of discovery and shared moments are more important than achieving specific destinations."
Finally, the brand is putting its sustainability efforts to the fore, pledging to focus on finding the greenest, least impactful solutions, given a kick-start by its German design ethos of "durability, reliability and performance". It's a move that many outdoors brands have taken over recent years, but one that's welcome nonetheless.
