Salomon Partners with Outlandish For Nonprofit "Hikeish" Initiative

Brooklyn outdoor goods retailer Outlandish and Salomon‘s charitable Salomon Foundation have joined forces to launch a new Hikeish initiative that furthers Outlandish’s mission of making the outdoors more accessible to people of color. “Outlandish wants to help people reconnect to the outdoors, and, hopefully, feel more whole and connected to something larger than themselves in the process,” co-founders Benje Williams and Ken Bernard told Hypebeast shortly after the store opened in March 2023.

Hikeish is an entirely nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization, and, in a nutshell, its goal is to expand the scope of Outlandish’s existing activities. These include — but are not limited to — guided hiking/trail running programs and accessible transportation to them, educational in-store experiences that touch on social equity, diversity, sustainability art, and how they all relate to the outdoors, and the teaching of “Leave No Trace” principles, a set of widely-regarded hiker guidelines and etiquette that aid with outdoor conservation.

Salomon

Apart from its inclusive, community-focused programming, Hikeish will also serve as a launching point for new Salomon products and gear, with Outlandish hosting a “Gear Locker” program that’ll loan Salomon shoes to event participants for wear tests. The first of these will be Salomon’s brand-new X Ultra 360 Edge hiking boot, and the partnership will also begin producing collaborative apparel this spring.

“The support from Salomon [allows Outlandish] to scale up our efforts to get folks outside,” says Williams. “Many brands talk about improving access and inclusion, but few have shown up like Salomon is, investing in multi-year partnerships that can start to shift the needle.”

“It’s really a twofold partnership,” adds Jennifer Horowitz, a marketing manager at Salomon. “On one side, we’re helping to increase access for POC into spaces that have historically held little diversity. On the other side, it’s an effort to help protect and preserve these wild spaces. By opening the doors to more people and inviting them to get out and explore, we’re hoping to teach a lesson of protection and preservation of our environment. The more people who care about the nature, the more people who will advocate to protect it.”

To celebrate the start of the partnership, Salomon and Outlandish will host a Hikeish run and party in Brooklyn on Friday, February 16, followed by an anniversary hike at Rockafeller State Park on Sunday, February 18. Head over to the Outlandish Instagram for more info on both events.