Narrator: This jacket has been banned
from a UK high school. Why?
An effort to poverty-proof the school environment.
Shielding low-income students from feeling bad
about not having a pricey coat.
Canada Goose jackets cost anywhere from $500 to $1,500,
and they're not just popular in English high schools.
They're everywhere.
How did these coats get so popular?
And why are they so expensive?
Pamela Danziger: Canada Goose started out as
a working-class brand, and it was really focused on
the working-class laborers up in Canada.
Narrator: Canada Goose was founded in 1957 by Sam Tick
in a warehouse in Toronto,
and it was originally called Metro Sportswear.
By the '80s, people were sporting the company's jackets
in the coldest places on Earth.
Its expedition parka became standard-issue
at Antarctica's McMurdo Station,
where the scientists nicknamed it "Big Red."
And in 1982, one of the company's jackets
made it to the top of Mt. Everest
on the back of Laurie Skreslet,
the first Canadian to summit the mountain.
Susan Fournier: So we're always trying
to find the authentic in a saturated world that's
kinda contaminated by materialism.
You get those credentials through the craftsmanship.
You also get it through a history of the brand,
where it's born of experiences
that were actually real that then became products.
Narrator: So what do Canada Goose jackets have
that others don't?
The company uses high-quality Canadian Hutterite down,
recognized as one of the highest quality in the world.
The company claims its animal fur trim disrupts air flow
and protects exposed skin against frostbite.
In fact, Canada Goose says its jackets
can withstand temperatures
as low as -30° Celsius.
And that sort of quality doesn't come cheap.
Western coyote fur, similar to what Canada Goose uses,
is estimated to cost $104.
Danziger: People need that kind of performance,
that kind of functional quality in their day-to-day lives,
and it's unusual to see such a brand
transform into a luxury brand,
but Canada Goose has been very successful
at making that transition.
Narrator: By the turn of the millennia,
the company got a new CEO
who would revolutionize the name "Canada Goose"
into the luxury brand we know today.
In 2001, Sam Tick's grandson,
Dani Reiss, was named as the company's president and CEO.
He started expanding the brand in Stockholm.
His commitment to quality limited supply,
but that only increased demand.
The brand spread throughout Europe,
mainly on word of mouth.
Then Reiss targeted America.
His parkas became the unofficial uniform
for cold-weather film crews,
and in 2004, the coats made it in front of the camera.
Reiss continued to market through the silver screen,
sponsoring film festivals in cold places
like the Berlin Film Festival and Sundance.
And its US exposure hit a new high in 2013
when Kate Upton donned a Canada Goose parka
on the cover of Sports Illustrated.
Through that association, they really raised their stature,
and again that's an interesting, authentic way
that Canada Goose made its entrance into the luxury market.
Narrator: There has been some backlash though.
PETA has protested against the company's production methods
and pushed the company to use a cruelty-free alternative.
Despite the protests, the company is on the upswing.
At the end of 2013,
Reiss sold a majority stake in the company to Bain Capital,
which allowed the company to expand manufacturing
in Toronto and Winnipeg
and eventually open a store in New York City.
Its expansion continued for four years,
and in 2017, the company went public.
On its first day of trading,
the company's stock jumped 25%,
and it's continued to rise through most of 2018.
The company's revenue has increased from
CAN$291 million in 2015
to CAN$591 million in 2018,
a 77% increase.
Fournier: New luxury is really
aligned with the new consumers,
which I call HENRYs.
The High Earners Not Rich Yet.
New luxury appeals to them.
I mean, it's more substance over style,
democratic luxury rather than elitist luxury
reserved just for the wealthy.
Narrator: Canada Goose has found a niche
between accessible outerwear like Patagonia
and exclusive outerwear like Montcler and Prada.
In 2018, the company accounted for 6%
of the $11 billion premium outerwear market.
Danziger: Traditional luxury, which is very much hinged on
exclusivity and elitism, just reserved for the wealthy,
is being disrupted by new luxury ideals
that young consumers are bringing into the marketplace.