“I wear it next to my skin night and day – it has become irreplaceable” – Henrik Brun, inventor of the string vest, 1928.

100% made in Europe • since 1887 • VISIT BRAND →

Did you know Brynje’s string vest was worn by Hillary and Tenzing on the 1953 Everest summit – the first time mesh base layers proved themselves at 8,848 m? As part of inspiring European consumers to buy local for a sustainable Europe…

Founded in 1887 in Larvik, Norway, by Jacob Jacobsen as a knitwear factory, Brynje pioneered the revolutionary mesh “string vest” in the 1950s in collaboration with Henrik Brun. Still family-owned after more than 130 years, production is today 100 % European (primarily Poland), keeping the carbon footprint 60–80 % lower than Asian alternatives while maintaining full control over quality and ethics.

The mesh principle is simple but genius: thousands of tiny air pockets trap warmth while allowing superb ventilation and rapid drying. Worn by Everest conquerors, polar legends, special forces and everyday outdoor enthusiasts ever since. Durable enough to be passed down generations and repairable in Brynje’s own Larvik sewing room.

Buy Brynje and you choose extreme performance with heirloom longevity, drastically lower transport emissions, and you support a genuine family-owned European manufacturer that has refused fast-fashion logic for over a century.