In 1978, one of their jacket designs was worn by the Austrian climber Peter Habeler on the first climb to the summit of Mount Everest without bottled oxygen. Soon afterwards the lightweight travel range was launched including Rohan Bags that are still in production today. The Howcrofts lost control of the company in the wake of Black Wednesday after a period of decline in the 1980s, and from 1988 it was owned by Clarks until a management buyout.