Kanuk Targets U.S. Wholesale Relaunch Under Thread Collective

Montreal outerwear maker Kanuk will relaunch into the U.S. wholesale market this week, roughly a year after its 2024 sale to Thread Collective, the $500 million Montreal-based brand owner behind Psycho Bunny, Frank and Oak and Salt Life.

The move marks a strategic reversal. Kanuk opened a SoHo flagship in New York in 2021 under previous ownership, but that store has since closed. The brand now sells in the U.S. almost entirely online, through Nordstrom's e-commerce platform and its own website, plus a handful of small boutiques. President Elisa Dahan calls the current push "the real launch."

Who now owns Kanuk?

The ownership history frames the sourcing and channel decisions. Guy Chanel founded Kanuk in 1974 as a founder-owned Montreal business built on coats engineered for Canadian winters. Its Taiga Parka — with a seamless body, moisture-resistant lining, fleece interior and Sherpa-lined collar — is credited with reshaping coat manufacturing.

Corporation Financière Champlain, a Montreal private investment firm, acquired the brand in 2015. Under Champlain, Kanuk pursued a modernized brand positioning and the SoHo store as part of an international push. Thread Collective, led by investor Bertrand Cesvet, bought the business in 2024. The group also holds licenses for Dickies, Ellen Tracy, Nautica and Scotch & Soda.

Dahan took the presidency two years ago. She cofounded Mackage, the Canadian outerwear brand, and Dodiee, a women's knitwear and shapewear label named after her mother. Kanuk is the first brand she has run without founding it herself.

"It's funny how quickly you become invested in something," Dahan said. She has worn the brand her whole life. "Kanuk is my off-duty wear. I am a girl who loves the city, but I actually do have a country house."

What changes under Dahan?

Dahan is redirecting the brand away from the Champlain-era international retail strategy and back toward its product roots: "a touch of workwear, a touch of comfort, a touch of cozy and layering."

"I feel like the foundation of the brand really resonated with me, but it got lost in translation over the years," she said. She describes Kanuk as "a real legacy brand, and I felt the world should really know what this brand was founded for."

The product plan extends beyond outerwear. Dahan wants to build a lifestyle brand rooted in Canadian country life, with collections inspired by Québec's landscapes and spanning knitwear, layering pieces and ready-to-wear. Vintage demand informed the direction: younger consumers have been seeking out Kanuk's heritage jackets on resale platforms, particularly pieces with Sherpa collars bearing the Snowy Owl emblem.

"The younger generation's interest in Kanuk's heritage jackets was very telling," Dahan said. "Those pieces have such a distinctive character, particularly the Sherpa collars with the owl emblem. I saw an opportunity to build a clear visual identity from those signatures and use the brand's craftsmanship and expertise to create a complete wardrobe."

How does the U.S. rollout work?

Kanuk operates two stores in Canada, with a third in Toronto slated to open shortly. The U.S. strategy, in contrast, centers on wholesale rather than owned retail. Dahan oversees design, marketing, pricing and partnerships, and she frames the timing as deliberate.

"We're on Nordstrom online, and we have a few very small boutiques," she said. "But this is the real launch. It takes time to clean up a brand that has lost its way, and I wanted to make sure it was in the right place before we sold into the wholesale market."

Thread Collective provides back-end support rather than day-to-day involvement. "I feel like I have carte blanche, but at the same time I have the support of a big organization whenever I'm stuck or need to brainstorm or talk through something," Dahan said.

The relaunch begins Wednesday with a Canadian cabin-themed cocktail event in New York, cohosted by actress Sophie Nélisse and expected to draw actors, models, stylists, press and content creators.

The wholesale push remains an announced intention rather than a signed program, with no named U.S. wholesale partners beyond existing Nordstrom online distribution; the Toronto store opening and the breadth of the lifestyle expansion will signal whether Dahan's reset gains commercial traction through 2025.