Bo Hilleberg set up the company in 1971 before marrying his wife Renata.
Before Renate, Bo’s fledgling company was primarily a forestry equipment concern, with tent making as a hoped-for sideline. An avid, lifelong outdoorsman, Bo was terminally frustrated with tents that required pitching the inner tent first and then covering it with a loose rain fly that usually displayed the same properties as a kite in the wind. He envisioned a tent that had an outer and inner tent that pitched together, simultaneously – but he didn’t have the necessary sewing skills. With Bo and Renate’s marriage, conjugal and commercial became one: Renate took charge of the sewing while Bo handled design and sales, and with their combined efforts, the company flourished.
Today, family and business are still inextricably linked. Bo is Chairman, and is senior advisor to the product development team; daughter Petra is CEO of the Hilleberg Group, President of both Hilleberg AB in Sweden and Hilleberg Inc in the US; and Bo, Renate, Petra and her brother Rolf make up the governing board of directors
Hilleberg categorize their tents into four categories, or “Labels”: Black, Red, Yellow, or Blue, each representing a performance range based on materials, construction or both. This grouping makes it straightforward to see the differences within their line, and so makes selecting the right Hilleberg tent much easier.
Petra said: “So obviously we have quite a few models and a lot of them look a little bit similar.
“So, we wanted to make a label system and that’s again, we used colours, so black, red, yellow and blue rather than expedition tracking, etcetera.
“So, the black label for instance, which is our all season tents that have the thickest poles, the most robust and most comfortable and easiest to use construction.
“If I have someone who’s going to the North or South Pole and they’re doing a big expedition like that, I will recommend them.”
To learn more about the company watch the full interview with Petra Hilleberg.
