From Copenhagen Inspiration to Global Style
The Visual Visionary Behind Nimbus®
"I’m a visual person. Design, films, furniture, art… I find meaning in how things are made, how they feel. It’s why I do what I do”
As Nimbus® celebrates more than 30 years of design-driven growth, we want to take a moment to look back, and forward, with the person who started it all. In this conversation, Lars Hammer, the founder of Nimbus®, shares his thoughts on inspiration, entrepreneurship, and what it means to build something that lasts.
In the early quiet hours of Copenhagen, before the city fully wakes, Lars finds his greatest inspiration. The hushed streets, the interplay of light on old facades, the curves of a Jacobsen chair or the stark elegance of a PK22 lounge – these are the details that stir his imagination. To him, these moments of calm and aesthetic clarity are more than just peaceful: they are fuel for creation.
“The Alaska jacket. It was our breakthrough, our first volume product, our first export success. Sweden was our entry point.”
Over 30 years ago, Lars launched Nimbus®, a Scandinavian clothing label that would eventually redefine the promotional wear industry with quality, design, and authenticity. For him, the journey hasn’t just shaped a brand – it has shaped the man: “It made me more focused, more direct. It gave me a deep respect for people who build things from scratch,” Lars says.
Being an entrepreneur wasn’t a calculated decision, it was the only path that ever truly made sense. And Nimbus® became more than a business. It became a mirror of his values: persistence, vision, and doing things properly in an industry where shortcuts are common. When asked for a standout moment, Lars doesn’t hesitate: “The Alaska jacket. It was our breakthrough, our first volume product, our first export success. Sweden was our entry point.” The style didn’t just keep people warm; it put Nimbus® on the map. Later came the softshell revolution, where Nimbus® became one of the first, if not the first, to bring the style to the promotional clothing market.
His advice to others is simple but powerful: never stop working hard and pushing forward. Success comes from perseverance and the willingness to put in that extra effort day after day. Equally important is to surround yourself with good people; people who are first and foremost highly skilled in their work, but who also have a healthy, balanced outlook on life. And perhaps most crucial of all, never forget your family. If your foundation at home isn’t stable, it will be much harder to perform at your best in business.
These aren’t just words. Like many entrepreneurs, Lars has faced the harder side of business: copycats, unfair competition, and those moments when passion meets disillusionment. But even in that, he has found clarity. “I’ve become tougher,” he admits. “Fairness matters. And so does standing up for what you’ve built.” Success, for Lars, isn’t measured in numbers: “It’s about waking up and still loving what I do. Seeing someone wear one of our jackets on the street – that’s a kind of reward that’s hard to explain.”
Looking Ahead: From Import to Identity
The future? It’s about scale, not reinvention. More markets, more reach, more of what Nimbus® already does well. One long-standing ambition remains: to see Nimbus® products available in the United States. Years ago, it was jackets from the US that first inspired the journey. Today, the idea of sending Nimbus® back across the Atlantic feels symbolic. “It would be a full-circle moment,” Lars explains. “But it’s not about chasing the US market to be big, it’s about meaning. About showing how far we’ve come.” He’s quick to clarify: expanding westward isn’t about turning away from Europe. “Our roots are here, and we’ll always prioritise the markets and partners who helped build us.”
He smiles at the mention of the law of attraction. He’s not a spiritual evangelist, but he does believe in focus, belief, and following beauty. And he sees something of himself in the way Steve Jobs approached design. “He was extreme. But he saw things that didn’t exist yet: colours, shapes, emotions. He had taste. That speaks to me.” And maybe that’s the essence of Lars: a man who sees what others miss – in art, in objects, in cities before dawn. A visual thinker who turned aesthetic passion into entrepreneurial purpose and made it a 30-year success story.
It’s not just the products that have endured, but the personality behind them. His clarity, persistence, and commitment to doing things right, not fast, have helped build something rare: a brand with soul. And perhaps that’s the real reason Nimbus® still grows, three decades on.