C.C. Filson is an American privately owned outfitter and manufacturer of goods for outdoor enthusiasts. The company, based in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

, designs, manufactures, distributes and sells men's and women's outdoor clothing, accessories and

luggage Baggage, or luggage, consists of bags, cases, and containers which hold a traveler's personal articles while the traveler is in transport, transit. A modern tourist, traveler can be expected to have packages containing clothing, toiletries, sma ...

. Filson sells its products via company-owned

retail Retail is the sale of goods and services to consumers, in contrast to wholesaling, which is the sale to business or institutional customers. A retailer purchases goods in large quantities from manufacturers, directly or through a wholes ...

stores, catalogs and the Filson

website A website (also written as a web site) is any web page whose content is identified by a common domain name and is published on at least one web server. Websites are typically dedicated to a particular topic or purpose, such as news, educatio ...

as well as through authorized dealers in the United States and international distributors. The company was originally established in Seattle in 1897 as C.C. Filson's Pioneer Alaska Clothing and Blanket Manufacturers to meet the needs of prospectors passing through Seattle on their way to the Klondike Gold Rush; as of 2012 the brand is owned by Fossil Group founder Tom Kartsotis, who also created

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Early history

Clinton C. Filson (born 1850), a former

Nebraska Nebraska ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Ka ...

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and railroad conductor for the

Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad The Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad (CMStP&P), better known as the Milwaukee Road , was a Class I railroad that operated in the Midwest and Northwest of the United States from 1847 until 1986. The company experienced financi ...

, arrived in the Northwest in the early 1890s, initially settling in

Kirkland, Washington Kirkland is a city in King County, Washington, United States. A suburb east of Seattle, its population was 92,175 in the 2020 U.S. census which made it the sixth largest city in King County and the twelfth largest city in the state of Washington. ...

, where he invested in property near Peter Kirk's proposed iron works and opened a hardware store in a brick building he co-owned with Seattle customs inspector A.T. Timmerman. He would also serve as the town's postmaster in 1894. Two years later after Kirkland's plans fell through he relocated to Seattle where he operated a small loggers' outfitting store, the Seattle Woolen House, at 903 1st Avenue, where the Federal Office Building currently stands. To meet the needs of prospectors passing through Seattle on their way to the Klondike Gold Rush, C.C. Filson founded C.C. Filson's Pioneer Alaska Clothing and Blanket Manufacturers in 1897. The company supplied prospectors with a variety of outdoor gear including clothing, blankets, boots and sleeping bags. After the gold rush ended around 1899, Filson shifted to providing gear for outdoor oriented activities and occupations including

hunting Hunting is the Human activity, human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, and killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to obtain the animal's body for meat and useful animal products (fur/hide (sk ...

fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment (Freshwater ecosystem, freshwater or Marine ecosystem, marine), but may also be caught from Fish stocking, stocked Body of water, ...

and

logging Logging is the process of cutting, processing, and moving trees to a location for transport. It may include skidder, skidding, on-site processing, and loading of trees or trunk (botany), logs onto logging truck, trucks Never having retired, Filson passed away in December 1919 and ownership of the company was handed over to his widow Winifred and nephew George Stroble.

Ownership and leadership

Filson remained under the control of the Filson family until 1970, when they sold their interest to a former distributor of Filson products to independent dealers in Alaska. Stan Kohls, a skiwear entrepreneur, purchased the company in 1981. Kohls expanded the product line from 35 items to 250 items, drawing from the company's archive or designing each new item himself. Kohls attempted to preserve the authenticity of the products by not using modern materials like Velcro. On January 1, 2005, Los Angeles, California-based

private equity Private equity (PE) is stock in a private company that does not offer stock to the general public; instead it is offered to specialized investment funds and limited partnerships that take an active role in the management and structuring of the co ...

group

Brentwood Associates Brentwood Associates is a private equity firm in the US with groups focusing on leveraged buyout. The firm, which is based in Los Angeles, was founded in 1972. Their most recent fund was a $1.15bn fund raised in 2017. The venture capital group ...

and former Polo Ralph Lauren Corporation executive Doug Williams acquired C.C. Filson, with Kohls maintaining a minority ownership interest and a seat on the board. Brentwood Associates and Williams renamed the company Filson Holdings and named Williams the Chief Executive Officer. Williams hoped to expand the brand's sales by introducing casual wear and selling to new customers based on Filson's reputation for ruggedness and quality. In 2006, Filson made Bill Kulczycki, a former Patagonia executive, CEO. In 2010, Mark A. Korros became CEO. In 2012, Brentwood Associates sold Filson Holdings, Inc. to Dallas-based Bedrock Manufacturing Co. for an undisclosed amount. Alan Kirk was appointed CEO of Filson in 2013. In June 2013, the company opened an extensive new manufacturing facility on 1st Avenue South in Seattle's

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manufacturing district, more than doubling capacity and by year end, more than 100 new jobs were created in production. The company now manufactures luggage, apparel and accessories in three company-owned locations in the USA. Former CEO Steve Bock left the company in early 2019, and was replaced by Rollen Jones. Following Jones' move in the following year to his current role as CFO and a brief interim return by Bock, former global strategist Paolo Corinaldesi of international retail group WP Lavori was appointed to the position, and was the standing CEO. Under current leadership, Filson has made organizational changes to streamline its business and be more efficient, including a decision to reduce positions in its Seattle and Kent manufacturing facilities and shift more production overseas. The company continues manufacturing heritage styles in its Washington facilities. In 2023 Filson announced plans to outsource manufacturing to a garment contractor in Los Angeles In January 2025 Bedrock recruited Tim Bantle from Eddie Bauer to be CEO at Filson

Retail locations

In addition to the company's retail website, Filson features flagship locations in

Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is the List of municipalities in Washington, most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the List of Unit ...

, and Union Square, New York City, as well as brick-and-mortar stores in

Portland, Oregon Portland ( ) is the List of cities in Oregon, most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon, located in the Pacific Northwest region. Situated close to northwest Oregon at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, ...

;

San Francisco, California San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

;

Plano, Texas Plano ( ; Spanish language, Spanish for "flat surface" /'plano/) is a city in the U.S. state of Texas, where it is the largest city in Collin County, Texas, Collin County. A small portion of Plano is located in Denton County, Texas, Denton Count ...

;

Edina, Minnesota Edina ( , ) is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States and a first-ring suburb of Minneapolis. The population was 53,494 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the 18th most populous ci ...

;

Boston, Massachusetts Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

;

Ballard, Seattle Ballard is a neighborhood in northwestern Seattle, Washington, United States. Formerly an independent city, the City of Seattle's official boundaries define it as bounded to the north by Crown Hill (N.W. 85th Street), to the east by Greenwo ...

; and

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. Outside the US, there are stores in

Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the city, up from 631,486 in 2016. The Met ...

and

Toronto, Ontario, Canada Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the fourth-most populous city in North America. The city ...

. in

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

there are two retail locations in

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

one in

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

and one in

Cortina d'Ampezzo Cortina d'Ampezzo (; , ; historical ) sometimes abbreviated to simply Cortina, is a town and ''comune'' in the heart of the southern (Dolomites, Dolomitic) Alps in the province of Belluno, in the Veneto region of Northern Italy. Situated on the ...

. Filson maintains one

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, located in

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Modern product line

In 1991, Filson revived its line of bridle leather-trimmed canvas

. In 1998, Filson opened a flagship retail store near Seattle's

Safeco Field T-Mobile Park is a retractable roof ballpark in Seattle, Washington, United States. It is the home stadium of the Seattle Mariners of Major League Baseball and has a seating capacity of 47,929. It is in Seattle's SoDo neighborhood, near the w ...

. In 2008, Filson introduced a line of women's clothing. In 2010, Filson partnered with Levi Strauss & Co. to produce a collection of jackets, shirts, caps and bags called "Levi's Workwear by Filson."

References

External links