On Location: Norway

Every season, the AETHER team packs its bags and hops a flight overseas to unique locations to field-test and photograph our upcoming collections. For our latest trip, we set our sights on the Scandinavian country of Norway.

Designed in California, Proven in Norway

There’s a specific kind of anticipation that comes with packing for a production in the Arctic Circle. You aren't just packing gear; you’re pre-planning for variables. Hard cases filled with lenses are stacked alongside layers of technical outerwear, all carried with the collective hope that the volatile Scandinavian weather will cooperate. For our latest overseas campaign shoot and round of field-testing, we headed north to Norway—a landscape defined by dramatic fjords, jagged peaks, and a crystalline light that feels entirely unique to the “top of the world.”

Next-Level Curation

For this expedition, we partnered with Black Tomato, an award-winning travel company renowned for crafting exceptional, bespoke experiences in the world’s most extraordinary corners. At its core, Black Tomato is built on a foundation of deep storytelling. Their team of well-traveled experts draws on first-hand field experience, local insight, and tight-knit relationships on the ground to carefully piece together every single nuance of a trip.

Black Tomato understands that a journey isn't just a sequence of locations—it's a narrative waiting to unfold. Because photography and video play such a vital role in our process, Black Tomato’s artistic approach was essential. They didn't just book our travel; they helped us bring the journey to life, designing an itinerary that showcased the depth, craft, and sheer drama of Norway's otherworldly landscapes.

Our First Day In Norway

Our journey began with touching down Oslo. Basecamp for this first urban leg of the trip was The Thief, a sleek, art-forward hotel right on the canals of Tjuvholmen. With only a single day to capture the city, we headed straight to the famous Oslo Opera House, exploring its stark, sloped white exterior on foot and moving through the minimalist, modern lines of the waterfront.

Heading North

By late Saturday afternoon, the energy shifted from urban exploration to rugged wilderness. We traded the city skyline for a flight up to Harstad/Narvik Airport, watching the sprawling geometry of Oslo dissolve into massive, snow-dusted massifs below. Landing around dusk, we loaded up our convoy of mini-vans and drove through the quiet, ink-black northern night toward the mountains of Narvik.

The Fjord, City, & Slopes

The next morning offered an early, icy wake-up call at Narvikfjellet Ski Resort. What makes skiing here so surreal is the perspective: the runs literally hover right over the city and the massive commercial port. From the top of the gondola, you can take in the entire fjord before carving down slopes that feel like they drop straight into the center of town. The combination of fresh powder, crisp air, and the high-alpine sun provided an ideal testing ground for our latest collection of outerwear and snow gear.

To The Coast

After a day on the mountain, we pushed onward toward the coast, with the surrounding landscape turning our commute into something more akin to a cinematic journey. We paused at the Efjorden Retreat, a masterclass in modern, minimalist architectural design perched right against the water that mirrors the geometry of the surrounding frost-carved mountains. From there, we tackled the breathtaking drive toward the Lofoten archipelago, stopping along the way at Nusfjord Retreat—a secluded, incredibly quaint fishing village tucked between towering fjord walls.

Into the Archipelago

We pulled into the historic fishing village of Henningsvær just as the evening light began to bounce off the harbor. The village exists as a fascinating hybrid: part tourist destination, part raw, hard-working fishing town. We ended the day checking into the Henningsvær Bryggehotell, a boutique, waterfront hotel nestled in the historic fishing village of Henningsvær.

Seeing the famous Henningsvær soccer pitch at the very edge of town was unforgettable. To dedicate that much precious land on the smallest of peninsulas to a full-sized soccer pitch says everything about the local spirit. Surrounding the field—and towering over every available inch of the outlying rock islands—were massive wooden fish-drying racks. Throughout the town, these open-air structures hold thousands of air-dried salted cod. When the wind blew in the right direction, you knew instantly you were in a place where they took their catch very seriously, offering a firsthand look at how the natives survived dark Arctic winters when fishing in the pitch-black was far too treacherous.

Working Topside

For the second phase of the shoot, our models traded ski lifts for the deck of an old-school, wide-bodied wooden fishing vessel, charting a course straight out of Henningsvær into the open water. What the boat lacked in refined luxury, it made up for in character and pure utility—offering a massive open deck with plenty of room to shoot and work.

Norwegian Deeps Sea Fishing

Out on the open water, surrounded by towering walls of stone rising directly from the ocean, the conditions turned raw, and the sea welcomed us with rough swells and freezing cold ocean spray. We dropped heavy tackle and lures down to the seabed, jigging for cod. We pulled up a solid haul, donating our entire catch to the captain and crew. The crew cleaned the fish the minute they came on board, tossing the discarded heads and guts over the side. A flock of less-than-polite seagulls trailed us the entire time, aggressively heckling us whenever the fishing slowed down—as if blaming us for their hunger.

The Elements & The Arctic Rhythm

We spent our remaining days completely immersed in the elements. If one word defined the weather in Lofoten, it was wind. It never stopped. Sometimes it was wet, ocean-borne wind; other times, it was a cold, biting gale. The sea air rips across the archipelago as if it’s timed from coast to coast, with the mountainous land acting as a mere speed bump. Fast-moving cloud systems skipped from peak to peak, dropping temperatures into the 40s and changing the weather by the hour. Out there, the utility of our waterproof and windproof gear was no longer theoretical—it was essential. Though unpleasant at times, it once again provided another stellar opportunity to put our latest windproof and waterproof styles to the test under extreme real world conditions.

Despite the harsh elements, the Arctic offered moments of pure magic. The two-hour-long sunsets and sunrises served as constant reminders that we were far above the Arctic Circle—and afforded us endless golden hours to shoot in. Fresh seafood was everywhere we went, accompanied by people who were almost untrustworthily kind. Our final morning was a blur of packing gear and squeezing the last drops of daylight out of the landscape before catching a flight out of Svolvær's tiny airport. A few connecting flights later, the team was back over the Atlantic, bound for LAX. Behind us, we left the rugged, beautiful chaos of the Norwegian wild; with us, we brought back hard drives full of film and a collection thoroughly proven by the elements.