Merrell Continues To Take Outdoor Culture Beyond The Trail
From Lake Garda to London, Paris and New York, Merrell continues to explore what being an outdoor brand means in 2026
The outdoors is changing. Once defined primarily by mountains, trails and technical pursuits, outdoor culture is increasingly becoming part of everyday life. It now influences how people dress, move, socialise and experience the cities around them.
For Merrell, that shift has created an opportunity to take its outdoor heritage into new spaces. The brand can now introduce itself to a broader generation of consumers – without losing sight of the performance credentials it was built on.
Throughout 2026, the footwear brand has continued to connect the worlds of outdoor, community, fashion and culture. It has achieved this through a programme of events and activations spanning Europe and beyond.
That journey has remained firmly rooted in the outdoor industry. At Brandwave’s NetworkB platform in London, Merrell brought together figures from across outdoor, fashion, retail, running and media. They met to explore the growing influence of outdoor culture on the mainstream.
That conversation continued at the inaugural European Outdoor Week in Riva del Garda, Italy. Here, Merrell partnered with Brandwave to bring the industry together through a series of experiences, including an Industry Insiders Party. This was set against the backdrop of Lake
Garda, the event combined the traditional outdoor environment with a more social and community-led approach to industry engagement.
Under the theme The Mainstreaming of Outdoor Culture, discussions examined the increasingly blurred lines between technical performance and everyday style. They also considered the changing expectations of a consumer who no longer necessarily separates the trail, the commute and the rest of their life.
It reflects a wider evolution in Merrell’s approach. Rather than treating the outdoors as somewhere people have to travel to, the brand is increasingly exploring the outdoor experiences that exist on people’s doorsteps.
In London, that has meant connecting with the communities, creatives and spaces already reshaping what an active life in the city looks like. Notably, recent projects with the likes of Ollie Ranger and his Flock Together collective have brought Merrell into the heart of London’s creative and outdoor communities. At the same time, a Forest Bike installation outside The Boogaloo in Highgate placed that spirit into one of the capital’s best-known cultural meeting points.
As summer temperatures have pushed more of everyday life outside, the distinction between an “outdoor consumer” and everybody else has become increasingly difficult to define. For example, parks become meeting places. Bikes become transport and recreation. Running clubs become social communities. Technical footwear moves effortlessly between all of them.
“Outside in the City is a reflection of the outdoors becoming mainstream and that it’s not just about hiking the mountains or your weekends in the countryside, but that the outside begins
the moment you step out of your front door. There are great outside experiences we can have in cities and towns and that the outdoor industry is adapting to support this movement” said Jonathan Quint, EMEA Product and Marketing Director, Merrell.
And the journey does not stop in London. As Merrell moves through Paris Fashion Week and into activity in New York, the brand is continuing to explore the increasingly fluid relationship between outdoor performance and contemporary culture.
