MUNICH — Amid mounting concerns about global warming, hot cold-weather fashions — from ski skirts to puffy wedding gowns — are coming to the aid of Europe’s skiwear business.
“Skis are just the accessories to ski clothes,” Lee Keating, co-owner of Performance Ski, a 2,000-square-foot retailer of high-end ski apparel in Aspen and Vail, Colo., declared at the ISPO trade fair here last week. “Customers purchase ski apparel today as they would any high-end fashion item.”
The International Trade Fair for Sports Equipment & Fashion was held during one of the warmest winters in Europe in decades and a ski season marred by a worrying lack of snow. But while retailers took a cautious approach to order-writing, buyers, vendors and organizers agreed that skiwear’s evolution as a fashion commodity is helping to buoy the outdoor and mountain sports business, despite unseasonably warm temperatures.
Organizers and vendors stressed the hardware segment had suffered more from the weather conditions than the textile category. Buyers said they would expand their offerings to include lines with a higher fashion quotient in order to drive sales next winter, while vendors said they were diversifying their product ranges to include more streetwear and out-of-season products.
There was performance wear aplenty, but snow-fearing ski bunnies will delight in the plethora of ubersexy silhouettes on offer for next winter.
Indeed, Dita Von Teese — more often associated with birthday suits than ski pants — hammered home the emphasis on glamour when she performed at the GQ sports style awards, held in conjunction with the fair, which ended its four-day run at the Munich Messe on Wednesday.
Keating, who placed orders with high-end labels such as New York-based Erin Snow; Italy’s Authier; J.Lindeberg; Germany’s Matador, and Austria’s Frauenschuh, said she would increase her budget to include more fashion items such as high-end denim lines.
“People are not interested in the middle market anymore; today, customers are turning to high-end luxury lines,” said Sharon Campbell, buying director for Snow & Rock, the U.K.’s largest independent outdoor and mountain sports retailer with 14 doors, including three in London.
“It is a consumer market with about 80 percent of sales want-driven and 20 percent need-driven,” added David Whitlow, marketing director of Ellis Brighton, which counts 20 stores in the U.K., including three in London. Whitlow said he placed orders at Spyder, Burton, Eider, Arc’teryx and E+O.
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In order to reach more prospective shoppers, buyers said they were working hard to diversify their brand portfolios. “We are increasing the number of brands to broaden our customer base,” said Kelly Mitchell, director of retail and buyer for the high-end Brass Ranch stores in Sun Valley, Idaho. Mitchell said her budget was flat compared with last year. While sales for the store were on the rise, she took a cautious approach to spending and said she would shift dollars to include more fashion products.
Vendors, meanwhile, offered a wide variety of never-before-seen outerwear and mountain sports styles. There were bolero ski jackets by Switzerland’s Mover; vintage-inspired ski apparel at Luis Trenker; kimono-inspired jackets at Billabong; ski skirts by Active Marithé & François Girbaud; leather ski jackets at Boston-based skiwear specialist and furrier M. Miller and even a wedding dress by Germany’s Matador.
Body-conscious silhouettes — especially slightly elongated jackets cinched at the waist and made from trendy high-tech materials — set the ultraslim tone at the fair, while fashion elements such as fur trims, velvet-like waterproof surfaces, military jackets, workwear touches, denim, tweed and pinstripes underscored skiwear brands’ aim to come down from the mountains and on to city streets.
Meanwhile, color choices ranged from somber tones such as black, chocolate and white to flashier mountain shades: vivid green, blue, orange and red.
“Women want to look sexy and feminine when they ski,” said Kaspar Frauenschuh, owner of the Kitzbühel, Austria-based eponymous brand as well as one of the town’s stop multibrand high-end ski apparel shops. “But they also are very savvy when it comes to the latest technology and material and skiwear.”
His ski and outerwear collection boasted trendy ski jackets and pants with couture touches such as elegant linings, iPod features, leather and fur trims. The styles retail for around 650 euros, or $845 at current exchange.
City sophistication in skiwear was a clear direction at the show. Take Erin Isakov, for example, whose New York-based line Erin Snow boasts high-end skiwear and fashion that can be worn downtown as well as down hill.
“It’s important to offer skiwear that is transitional to the street, such as a subdued palette that flows into the ready-to-wear collections,” said Isakov, whose high-end tailoring is paired with leather trim, gold zippers and silver fox fur collars. “Today, women are increasing their number of ski outfits.”
For fall, Isakov added rtw items to her collection, including elegant blazers in sharp cuts as well as dresses and tops. She also introduced a spring line.
“Our high-end range is a bestseller,” said Paul Goldstein, founder of the new London-based label E+O. The brand boasts a variety of vivid colors with technical detailing, such as laser-cut seams, as well as fashion elements such as fur-trim and slim-fit pants. The collection retails between 450 euros, or $585, and 600 euros, or $780.
Fashion brands were also buying into the demand for high-style appeal. Take J.Lindeberg — its budding ski line, JL Ski by J.Lindeberg, was a favorite among retailers visiting the show. “It’s an extension of what we do in the ready-to-wear line,” said Marc Hare, international marketing manager of the brand. “The resorts are filled with sophisticated city dwellers who know a lot about fashion,” he added. The collection boasts subdued palettes and ultraslim-fit jackets that retail for around 300 euros, or $420, to 650 euros, or $845.
Even outerwear and mountain sports specialists with more affordable price points are buying into the luxury dream. Boulder, Colo.-based Spyder launched its luxury line, dubbed SCL, at the fair, while The North Face is upping the glamour quotient, putting the focus on lifestyle lines and its select high-end line dubbed Red Collection.
“It is essential to expand distribution. Brand consolidation tends to be more prevalent on a tough weather year,” said Topher Gaylord, president, outdoor and action sports for The North Face.
Boosted by double-digit sales growth, the company opened 17 stores on the Continent last year, bringing its total European store count to 27. An additional 10 store openings are slated for 2007. “We don’t tend to be a weather-dependent brand because of the diversity of our product range and customer base,” said Gaylord.
Instead, Gaylord said the brand is heading toward collections that will be launched four times a year as opposed to the traditional two seasons. By 2008, Gaylord said The North Face would count two primary collections and two flash collections for men and women, enabling new products to be brought to the retail sales floor more frequently.
In the end, fashion and technical aspects in apparel are certainly synonymous with successful performance on the slopes. At least according to Kari Traa, the gold medal freestyle winner of the 2002 Olympic Games in Salt Lake City, who presented her eponymous budding skiwear line “for girls who dare” at the show. “Let’s face it, girls want to show off the way they look as much as the way they ski.”
ISPO’s organizers said attendance was up 5 percent to 64,000 visitors, with the increase driven in part by textile buyers. Several ski celebrities also put in an appearance at the show, and voiced their concern over the season’s warmer temperatures.
“The first victim of global warming is the snow,” said Jean-Claude Killy, who won three gold medals at the 1968 Olympics. Killy was promoting the relaunch of his eponymous brand with new French sportswear manufacturer Eider.
“It’s a major concern and we must set the example,” agreed Glen Plake, the pioneer of gravity-defying freeriding, who also circled the show.