[3][4] Founded in 1989 as Rock Solid, the company re-branded in 1991 as Arc'teryx to produce outerwear and climbing gear for the Coast Mountains in Canada.

The company is a major influence in the "gorpcore" and "normcore" fashion movements, the wearing of minimalist, technical apparel in urban settings.

[12] As their apparel line expanded Arc'teryx began manufacturing in international markets, specifically in China, the Philippines, Vietnam, Bangladesh, El Salvador, Laos, and Greece.

[14][15] Their garments, accessories, and apparel is organized into various product families differentiated by the Greek alphabet, e.g. Alpha, Beta, Delta, Gamma, Rho, Sigma, and Zeta.

[23] The company is a major influence in the "gorpcore" and "normcore" fashion movements – the wearing of minimalist, outdoor apparel in urban settings, along with Mammut, REI, Marmot and Patagonia.

[25][26][27][28] Luxury fashion houses that have minimalist aesthetics collaborate with Arc'teryx to produce capsule collections, according to The New York Times and GQ.