They’re back.
After Askov Finlayson’s first run of its “North” stocking hats infamously sold out within four days of its 2013 release, the North Loop retailer owned by the brothers Eric and Andrew Dayton has had trouble keeping them in stock. Today, the popular hats have been re-released, just in time to get a head-start on your holiday shopping.
This year, the store is offering the hat ($29) in expanded styles and nine new color combinations, as well as coordinating “Team North” mittens ($24), available in three colorways. They’re using the occasion to launch their Keep The North Cold campaign: For each “North” stocking cap and mittens sold, the store will make a donation to Climate Generation, a climate-change non-profit founded by famed Arctic explorer Will Steiger. (In fact, Eric Dayton once went on a dogsled expedition in the Arctic with Steiger, whose parka from that exploration is on display in the new Askov Finlayson store.) The use of the word “North” comes from Eric Dayton’s ongoing campaign to extricate Minnesota from the Midwest and instead adopt what he sees as the more fitting designation of the North. (For more on that, read Tim Gihring’s piece from last August, “Divorcing the Midwest.”)
The original “North” hat—originally available in navy with a red band, a yellow pom, and the word “North” knit in blocky white letters—was inspired by the Dayton brothers’ youth spent playing ice hockey and the retro hat knit stocking hat styles of the 1980s.
Run, don’t walk, to Askov Finlayson (204 N. 1st St., Mpls.) today to scoop up hats for everyone on your holiday shopping list, or order online, before they’re gone for good.
all images Courtesy Askov Finlayson
