Company profile

DIRECTALPINE is your direct route to the top, to your goal, to the given purpose, to perfection, without any deviations, sidesteps and compromises.

Direct Alpine s.r.o. is a Czech-owned company financed entirely from Czech capital. The DIRECT ALPINE apparel line is almost entirely produced in Europe (99% produced in Europe) and namely in the Czech Republic. In the Production section of our website you can find the most up-to-date information regarding the production of outdoor jackets, trousers, sweaters and pullovers.

Production in the Czech Republic

In terms of technology and development we are still growing. Our Swiss, German and Austrian clients in particular are delighted with the popularity of our products among their customers as well as the high quality of our products and the superior service that we provide. We have also established ourselves on the global market in Japan and Korea. In 2012 we won another tender, this time for the delivery of clothing for professional members of the Mountain Service in the Czech Republic.

Our collection is primarily conceived as a utilitarian one, with technical detailing and individual design going hand in hand. Much more so than in the case of previous collections, it is evident at first sight that we employ the latest technology and thus eliminate the possibility of product failure – for example, in addition to other techniques, we laminate zips and pockets and use laser cutting for reinforcements. The use of these cutting edge technologies that ensure improved functionality is most evident with our Mountain Top clothing line. We place an emphasis on highly creative and modern design. Thanks to the interest of our end users, we are able stick to our strategy without compromising on our mission of developing responsive and practical products which are perfectly in line with the intended purpose. Thanks to our cooperation with many leading athletes and professional mountain climbers who test out DIRECT ALPINE clothing in the field, we are constantly inspired and motivated to create further innovations.

We are essentially still a small family company. The DIRECT ALPINE collection does not have thousands of items listed in a catalogue nor do we manufacture hundreds of thousands of items. Nor do we use impersonal massive marketing on customers like multinational corporations do. However, we do focus on each product in detail. Even though we are a part of the global market, we are still able to espouse the values which have always been part and parcel of the outdoor – adventure, nature, purity, freedom and friendship. Whether you are on a short trip to the country or on an adventurous dream expedition, our goal is to continue to offer you high-quality, reliable products that will contribute to the joy of being in the outdoors, in the mountains, on cliffs and in the forests.

We immensely value that the DIRECT ALPINE brand can be a constant companion for you in the outdoors, in the mountains and in everyday life, and that it remains a symbol of comfort and functionality.

History

2014 - NEW LOGO more about new logo >>>

2010 - Cooperation with the Mountain Service of the Tatra National Park and the Slovakian Mountain Service. We participated successfully in several tenders for the delivery of clothing to several organisations of professional mountain guides in France. We won a tender to create a line for the Motorsport ŠKODA AUTO team. We won this tender due to our perfect cut, quality materials, progressive design and lightweight clothing which allowed drivers to shave entire seconds off their final circuit times.

2008 - In addition to our ever popular trousers, the most successful products in the collection were, namely models from our MOUNTAIN TOP series. During the development phase, we put an emphasis on the expansion of this product group. We worked with members of the mountain service, professional mountain guides, the guides of travel agencies, product managers of our clients, or in short, with anyone who is at home in the mountains and really has something to say about clothing. Intense cooperation was underway with the Italian firm Skitrab, the renowned ski manufacturer particularly famous for its alpine ski models. The project for the development of functional alpine ski clothing came to a close with the successfully produced Summit and Cascade models.

2006 - We continued to expand our activities abroad and grew due to our exports. As a result of our products’ excellent price/quality/value ratio, our products were very well received in Switzerland, Austria and Germany, as well as in traditional "outdoor" countries such as France, Italy, Poland and Greece. We cooperated with the Italian company La Sportiva on a joint range of technical clothing and after several years of cooperation they decided to go their own way.

2005 - The legal form of the company changed with the founding of Direct Alpine s.r.o. Two partners stayed on with the company: Radek Nováček and Jindra Hudeček. The company moved again to larger premises, this time to the picturesque Kateřinky area of Liberec. The newly renovated former textile factory became a sufficient base for the ever expanding business. We also invested in equipment for the sampling and modelling workshops and installed the latest CAD system to work with cuts and modelling. A symbol of an arrow made of stones, which shows the clear way forward and up, was added to the name of the brand. Just like us, the stones are a part of nature – the outdoors. Everyone knows that an arrow made of stones sends a clear message: "This is the right way – the route’s finish line is this way".

2000 - Jindra "Hudy" Hudeček, owner of the first network of outdoor shops in the Czech Republic, joins the company. This is a strategic partnership which results in the incorporation of the Direct Alpine brand into Hudy sport shops and promised possibilities of further growth abroad. Direct Alpine presented its collection for the first time at the most important outdoor trade fair in Europe, ISPO München, and thus our participation at large foreign events of this type began.

1999 - The first prototype was developed for the hard-shell jackets and trousers DEVIL ALPINE, which have remained in the current Direct Alpine collection for several generations. The manufacture of PATROL trousers made of highly resilient fabric with reinforced knees and seat began and was seen as a revolutionary step forward. These trousers had been missing on the Czech market, and the first series of several hundred trousers was a massive success both with sellers and customers. The company expanded into other premises, adding a sampling and modelling workshop. We developed and tested other models of clothing and the customer reaction was highly positive, motivating us to further development our apparel line.

The first collection at the exhibition Sport Prague in 1999:

1998 - The firm expands and adds other textiles to the range which focus on the use of outdoor activities, membranes and insulation fleece. The first models of outdoor clothing under the brand name "Direct" gradually begin to be created. The aim was to create clothing which could meet the high requirements and demanding conditions of the mountains (for example, conditions present during winter ascents and alpine skiing). Operational and storage facilities were expanded.

1997 - Radek Nováček and Jirka Sika, long-time friends and climbing buddies, establish a small trading company and start to work on the testing and sale of textiles. The founders of the company had a joint interest in outdoor activities, such as mountain climbing, paragliding, MTB and Telemark. Therefore, they focused on high-quality textile products from Czech and European manufacturers and gradually built up a network of customers throughout the Czech Republic.