HELLY HANSEN's Summer Collab Rides a Chinese Pun About 'Howling' Into the Wild

Norwegian outdoor brand HELLY HANSEN just made its first move into the designer-toy space — and the hinge point is a single Chinese character: 嗷 (áo).

The campaign, titled 「嗷」游之旅 — a pun that fuses the onomatopoeic
áo
(a howl, a roar) with 遨游 (
áo yóu
, "to roam freely") — marks the brand's debut collaboration with popular designer toy IP
Aoo
(小嗷). In the partnership, Aoo takes on the persona of a "Coast Rover" (海岸漫游家), kitted out in HELLY HANSEN's H2EXPLORER wind-shell jacket — the same piece worn by global brand ambassador
Wang Yibo
.

That Wang Yibo connection is not incidental. He's the shared global ambassador for both HELLY HANSEN
and
the Aoo IP, making him the campaign's emotional and commercial anchor. A single face bridges the 148-year-old Norwegian outfitter's "explore further" ethos with Aoo's Gen-Z-friendly, roaming-spirit identity. It's a tidy bit of casting that gives the collaboration more narrative cohesion than most brand × toy IP team-ups manage.

The drop itself is compact: limited-edition hang cards, fridge magnets, and a co-branded Aoo figure that will travel — literally. The "Coast Rover" Aoo is slated to appear first at a pop-up in Seoul's Seongsu-dong on July 1, then roll through Bangkok and eventually surface at World Cup viewing events, both physical and virtual. The campaign frames Aoo not as a static collectible but as an itinerant character unlocking cities and outdoor settings one by one.

Product-wise, the push centers on the
H2EXPLORER wind-shell jacket
(风感皮肤衣 in Chinese): lightweight, wind-resistant, UPF 50+ rated, and pitched as equally at home in city commutes, coastal camping, and cross-city travel. It's a practical springboard — performance specs that don't demand a summit attempt, just a willingness to be outside.

For HELLY HANSEN, which has been steadily building its China presence (a Great Wall trail-running event, the Wang Yibo signing), this is a lighter, more playful lane. Designer toys are serious business in China — a market where pop-martification has turned IP collaborations into a cultural currency. Partnering with Aoo lets the brand tap into that without diluting its outdoor credentials: the "roaming" theme does the work of keeping it on-brand.

And the wordplay? 「嗷」游 is the kind of pun that only lands in Chinese, which is precisely the point. It signals a campaign built for this market, not a translated global playbook.