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Danish brand Rains has hit a new revenue record and is steadily moving toward the billion-dollar mark. In 2024, the company reported a top line of DKK 721.5 million, with the ambition to double that to DKK 1.6 billion by 2027.

Amid this growth, co-founder Daniel Brix Hesselager is returning as CEO – a move aimed at injecting more entrepreneurial energy into the company.

He succeeds former Ecco CEO Steen Borgholm, who held the position at Rains for just two years.

When DetailWatch asked Daniel Brix Hesselager about the leadership change, he said:

“This reflects our desire to significantly reform the company. It requires fairly extensive structural changes, and I believe I am best positioned to make that happen, since it’s my own company,” he says.

He also commented on Rains’ internal entrepreneurial culture:

“We want to get back on an entrepreneurial path. And yes, he [the previous CEO] contributed to some extent. I’ve been involved with the company from the very beginning. But at this stage, it’s crucial to bring back the entrepreneurial element. Ultimately, there’s just a difference between having the owner or a professional CEO at the helm.”

Since its beginnings in a garage in Aarhus in 2012, Rains has grown into a global brand with 35 of its own stores and the majority of revenue coming from outside Denmark. In the summer of 2024 alone, nine new concept stores were opened – including locations in Tokyo and Seoul.

In recent years, the company has invested heavily in new employees, IT infrastructure, and a new headquarters – yet it has still managed double-digit profits over the past several years.

The two remaining co-founders of Rains: Philip Lotko (left) and Daniel Brix Hesselager (right).

The future of Rains will focus on expanding its own stores, strengthening its online presence, and building a stronger foothold in the U.S.—a market that has received increasing strategic attention.

As Daniel Brix Hesselager has previously explained:

“Our goal is 1.5 billion DKK in revenue by 2027. Some years we grow more than others, but we are confident in a long-term perspective,” he says.

When Rains started out in a garage, the ambition was far more modest:

“We didn’t set out to build a global company. The goal was simply to make a living.”

“Europe remains our foundation. But from an international perspective, we are still a small company. There’s a long way to go in the U.S. We’ve gained positive momentum, but we’re still not successful there. New York alone is two to three times the size of Denmark, so there’s still work to be done. It’s the same with Asia, which is also a completely new market,” he adds.

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