Running Against The Odds: Meet Iceland’s First Running Wear Brand

“What’s special about the Icelandic runner is that they are a specific kind of runner who is really affected by their surroundings. They’re ready for anything,” says fashion designer Guðmundur Magnússon as I meet him and his business partner in their studio on Laugavegur. Just last summer Guðmundur, along with co-founders Aron Guan and Jóhann Ingi Skúlason founded Vecct, said to be Iceland’s first running wear brand. “Our philosophy is to design specifically for this runner, even though we’re doing clothing for people everywhere, whether it’s the USA or Copenhagen. If you design for this runner, it should be able to withstand the demands of any runner.”

“Our philosophy is to design specifically for Icelandic runners, even though we’re doing clothing for people everywhere.”

With its sleek design and functionality at its core, Vecct isn’t Guðmundur’s first venture into fashion. Having studied fashion design at the Iceland University of Arts, in his early 20s he tapped into fashion together with Aron, running the streetwear brand CCTV. After his studies, he moved to Milan where he worked as a menswear and accessories designer for two and a half years. “When I was living in Milan, I got really interested, sort of obsessed, with running. I had always been interested in sportswear clothing and, having worked in fashion for quite a while, it was interesting to me to start doing something a bit more functional, purposeful,” he explains. “I thought this is just something that I have to combine: running and fashion design. It just makes sense.”

Wear your vision

Guðmundur moved back to Iceland just over a year ago and started Vecct together with Aron and Jóhann. He handles the clothing design while he and Aron manage the brand’s creative direction together. Jói, who’s the only one with a day job as a software engineer (and therefore isn’t present during the interview), serves as CEO and manages the finances. “But he has a good understanding of the artistic side of things as well,” Guðmundur is quick to add. “He’s not just a numbers guy. We’re all friends.”

Aron and Guðmundur agree that their way of working is a constant dialogue, with the skill sets of all three founders complementing each other. Aron’s background in visual mediums has helped shape Vecct’s branding and philosophy. “I’ve been exploring graphic design, working across type, print, digital and now product,” he says. “I feel like I’ve reached that point where I’ve found what I really like within graphic design.”

“We do clothes, but on the visual side of things, it’s all one visual world. Everything goes hand in hand,” Guðmundur says. “Maybe I’m making a decision on whether we’re gonna do elastic binding or other kind of finishing, but it’s all part of the bigger picture, the visual world. We share that vision.”

So, how do you start a running wear brand? You need more than just a few clothing items and a web store. For Vecct, launching their store took nine months of meticulous groundwork. Months were spent testing different prototypes with manufacturers, figuring out logistics, and developing the brand’s philosophy, vision and aesthetic.

Backed by the crowd

A month before the brand’s official launch, the co-founders introduced the Founding Members programme, inviting people to support the brand without physically touching the product. At this point, only photos of the clothing were available. “It was like a funding programme where we showed the previews of the clothing and offered people to buy credit tier packs,” says Guðmundur. “You could buy, for example, 50,000 ISK credit packs, and then get a lifetime 10% discount. For bigger tier packs, like 500,000 ISK, you’d get exclusive items. It was a creative way for us to crowdfund the brand.”

Aron emphasises that community response has far surpassed their expectations. “We got such good feedback,” he says. “So many people wanted to support us, even though we hadn’t done anything yet, we’re just introducing the idea. People were very supportive from day one.”

Guðmundur Magnússon

Building a clothing brand in Iceland comes with its challenges — from high costs to geographical isolation complicating shipping — but Aron and Guðmundur see these hurdles as opportunities. The country’s compact social network became their unexpected strategic advantage.

“The strength that we have felt in Iceland is the close-knit community,” says Aron. “It’s such a small country, and this is a cliché to say, but if you have a problem, it’s just a one phone call away from being solved — if we need help with something, if we need a studio, a model or whatever, you most likely know people that can help you and they’re most likely ready to help.”

The creative ecosystem offers opportunities for additional support. Guðmunður, for example, is currently on a government payroll, receiving an artist salary, or listamanalaun, to focus exclusively on Vecct.

Tested on the move

“We take this jacket and then we’re going to do version 2.”

Vecct’s current offering is limited to a minimalist range of essentials: shorts, short- and long-sleeved tops, zips, and a jacket that can be worn individually or layered. The garments are mostly available in black, grey and white — though the founders plan to expand their colour palette over time.

“Different items suit different occasions,” Guðmundur explains. “The clothing is designed for running, but a lot of our stuff can be used in the gym or outside of running as well. Like, he just wears the jacket,” he points to Aron, who’s wearing Vecct’s Arc Jacket. “As we’ve seen, Nike started as a running brand, or Arc’teryx started as a climbing brand, and then it’s where people take it.”

When discussing inspiration, both founders point to Iceland. “Iceland inspires the functionality of the products directly and the aesthetic of the brand is also connected to Iceland,” says Aron. “70 or 80% of the time Iceland is dark — you wake up, it’s dark, and then there’s the small window of light. We have all these different landscapes and different nature. You do get influenced by it when you’ve lived here your whole life, and I think you can see it in our aesthetic.”

“I would also say that the aesthetic comes very natural to us. A big part of the time, it’s just us trusting in our taste, and our taste is a natural reflection of where we come from,” Guðmundur adds.

Iceland also proves to be the perfect testing ground for running apparel. How does Vecct approach the testing process in a landscape where the weather can shift dramatically in a matter of minutes?

“For us, it’s just running in the clothing in Iceland,” Guðmundur smiles.

“Running in the city here, you know how it is, you go by the shore and you’re surrounded by mountains, and all of a sudden the wind is crazy, and then two weeks later, it’s just covered by snow, and you’re forced to go on the treadmill and or the track inside. You get every type of running terrain or running surroundings here. And the surroundings change a lot,” he explains.

So far, Vecct’s gear has been tested in-house — by the team and those in their inner circle. But that’s about to change. They’re gearing up to launch their own running group, turning kilometres run in the wild into product feedback. They’ve also set up a public Strava group, where runners from around the world can join in on monthly challenges.

Tweaks over trends

Since launching last August, Vecct has yet to experience a full running season in Iceland, Aron and Guðmundur admit. As they gear up for next summer, they’ll be introducing new pieces but emphasise that, in the future, their focus will be on refining existing designs rather than releasing seasonal collections.

“The spring, summer, fall, winter collection thing mainly revolves around retailers and their timeline,” Guðmundur explains. “Having the freedom to not be tied to such deadlines means that if we need one more prototype to perfect this jacket, we can take the time and have flexible release dates. We have a rough scheduled timeline, but it is kind of fluid — we just release [the product] when we feel it’s ready.”

Aron Guan

Every garment Vecct puts out in the world has its purpose. “A part of our philosophy is not trying to produce a million wind jackets,” says Aron. “We take this jacket and then we’re going to do version 2 — we try to make all these products the best they can be over time.”

Guðmundur nods in agreement. “For us, that is the modern way of design,” he says. “It’s kind of outdated to do 300 styles for each collection, just for the sake of doing 300 styles so we can do some runway show, which we’re not going to do.”

Vecct chose to manufacture their clothing in China for a simple reason: cutting-edge technology. “The brand I worked for in Italy, we were doing all kinds of clothing — tailoring, leather, knitwear, all these classic craft styles of clothing, and that’s what Italians are really good at,” Guðmundur explains. “But the best outerwear, sportswear is in China. They have way more advanced manufacturing tools.”

Aron’s Chinese heritage proved useful in navigating the production process. “I’m half Chinese and my uncle lives in Beijing. He’s been our intermediary,” he shares. “When you’re trying to contact manufacturers online, you don’t know who’s on the other side, so you need someone to verify it. He has been that person for us.”

Before Christmas, Vecct set up a temporary pop-up store inside Útilíf, their first physical presence. “We only existed online before that, and we have got the feedback from our customers and people around us that they want to try it and touch it,” says Aron.

Guðmundur adds that moving forward, they plan more pop-up experiences, “both for the customers to try things and materials but also for us to meet people in real life, speak to them, explain the products to them, and just get a sense of better sense of who our customer is.”

The sound of Vecct

A quick glance at Vecct’s web store or Instagram reveals a meticulously crafted brand ecosystem. “Ever since we first started, it was very important to us to have everything that we do as a whole,” Guðmundur emphasises. “Everything is thought out, everything is intentional.”

This approach extends beyond clothing. Their Vecct Cadence Series playlist, for example, ingeniously syncs track tempos to specific running rhythms, helping athletes lock into their perfect stride. To amplify their sonic identity, they collaborated with electronic trio ex.girls, creating a custom soundscape for their brand.

“We spoke to them about building a sonic world, or just a sound for Vecct, so when we do some sort of motion or video marketing, then we have this world that they’ve already built on, and then it just tailor it to each video, or whatever it is that we do,” Guðmundur explains.

Entrepreneurship, they’ve learned, is far from the polished narrative of social media. “We knew before we started this that it’s not gonna be all the glamour and smooth sailing. That’s just part of the process, and we learn a lot from the failures,” says Aron.

Still, even the less exciting tasks take on a new meaning when it’s your own venture. “I feel like all the typical boring stuff that you do when you’re working for someone else, it’s boring, but when you’re doing it for yourself, the boring things become not so boring. That’s at least the lesson that I’ve learned,” he sums up. “You just care deeply for what you’re doing.”

Choose your next running gear at vecct.store