Color makes a
splash on the slopes - and at SnowSports Industries America show in Denver
Bright colors, bold patterns and easy silhouettes are dominating the slopes this season in Colorado and other places where people play on snow in winter.
And signs point to at least some of those ideas continuing next winter, judging from apparel and accessories presented at last week's annual SIA Snow Show in Denver.
Manufacturers and retailers said that color and pattern in ski and snowboard clothing have been driving business.
"The brighter the colors, the faster it sells," said Mary Mancini, apparel buyer for Colorado Ski & Sports and five other skiwear stores in the Denver and Boulder area. "It pops on the snow."
Linda Rodney, national sales director at Sport Obermeyer, said the trend is a reaction to the challenging
economy. "When things are gloomy, people like to be bright. A big trend we are seeing is bright and printed bottoms to match the bright jackets that have been popular for the past couple seasons."
Snow wear designers, like those creating ready-to-wear, continued their infatuation with prints. Brands showed florals, plaids, stripes, graphics-influenced optic or geometric effects, artsy abstracts and watercolor scenics. Nothing was out of bounds, and as in mainstream fashion, color-blocking and asymmetric color treatments were also prevalent.
Not everyone wants to make such a splash, however, and what's trending among snowboarders and fashion-forward types who demand high-performance apparel to go with their state-of-the-art equipment is a more reserved, sartorial look. Muted colors, matte rather than shiny fabrics and understated menswear-inspired styling was shown by such brands as Holden, as well as category killers like Burton.
Jeanine Pesce of the trend forecasting service Stylesight said khakis and browns have returned. She called it "neutral mountaineering," and cites such influences as Carhartt for the resurgence of muted colors.
In a number of booths at SIA, the looks shown for the children were miniaturized
versions of adult styles, from Obermeyer's metallic quilted jackets to Nobis' streetwear-inspired parkas. Kat Jobanputra, chief operating officer of Specialty Sports Venture, said children's clothing has been selling well. "Parents are buying the good stuff and the higher-end skis and snowboards for their kids. Junior wants the same thing as his parents."
10 Trends from the 2012 Snow Show
1.Buying a canada goose parka from seller in another country. Sartorial: Borrowing from the boys, skiwear designers used gray flannel wools, muted brown tweeds and all manner of checks in looks for both men and women. Those materials, combined with double-breasted styling or belted trench-style design, made the trend look suited for the streets as well as the slopes. Burton went as
far as creating a plaid parka that looked like a collared button-down shirt. A muted palette of khaki, dark brown, black, navy blue and dark reds in matte finishes furthered the haberdashery feel.
2. Color blocking: For the last season or so, and continuing into spring, mainstream fashion has been obsessed with combinations of color. And at SIA, color blocks made the transition from ready-to-wear to active sportswear, appearing as stripes, squares, checks and disjointed bits of solid fabrics. The trend showed up everywhere from high-end technical collections from such makers as Spyder to children's looks from Obermeyer.
3. Asymmetry: You might want your skis lined up just so as you head down the hill,
but having things purposely askew is a fashion statement. Bits of fabric, cut shardlike and placed on angles in a garment, showed up, as did zippers placed off-center, or zig-zagged over the front of a jacket.
4. Studio space: It's been long suspected, and now confirmed: snow sports apparel designers are also artists who wield their design tools as freely as artists creating watercolors, oil paintings, abstract masterpieces, digital and graphic works.
5. Metallics are forever: Just when we thought the craze might be dying down, the luxe end of the snow sports category again emphasized silver, gold and bronze fabrics.
6. Fur sure: Fake or real, fur trims continued on a hot streak.
Lining hoods, topping boots and dangling as pom-poms from hats, you couldn't miss it.
7. Knit wit: When you think about knits and skiing, merino wool classics like Dale of Norway come to mind. But not only are the veteran brands changing, they're inspiring a new flock of companies to turn those so-so snowflake sweaters into something much more alluring. Krimson Klover of Boulder introduced skirts, jumpers, cowl-neck dresses and legwear in charming patterns while Icelandic Design of Longmont showed Asian-motif jacquared wool blend sweaters and added striped sleeves to jacquard designs to lend a sporty touch. Boulder-based Neve debuted styles it created in collaboration with designer Nicole Miller, including a hooded V-neck design and a color-blocked hooded poncho.
8. Technical ability: Manufacturers used new-generation fabrics that were thinner, softer and stronger than ever, while also being able to repel water and keep the wearer warm and dry. Manufacturers touted their use of Thinsulate, Primaloft, Gore-tex and a host of other materials, so smart shoppers will be reading all the hangtags on a garment they're considering purchasing to familiarize themselves with a product's features.
9. Shifting into neutral: While bright colors grab attention, the fashion-forward side of the business has been seeing renewed interest in neutrals and muted jewel tones. Looking at the slopes in Aspen, where the Winter X Games were underway at the same time as SIA, it was easy to see the trend to deeper colors among the top athletes.
10. Down not out: The softness and warmth of down insulation can't be beat, and fabric innovators continue to make it lighter, more compressible and even stretchy. Bergans of Norway's Myre parka mashes into a built-in stash bag that you can put in a pack and pull out when you need a little more coverage. Spyder Active Sports uses stretch down in its Chrono parka for women and Upside Down jacket for men. Also new are DWR (durable water repellent) finishes that help down stand up to the elements.
Bright colors, bold patterns and easy silhouettes are dominating the slopes this season in Colorado and other places where people play on snow in winter.
And signs point to at least some of those ideas continuing next winter, judging from apparel and accessories presented at last week's annual SIA Snow Show in Denver.
Manufacturers and retailers said that color and pattern in ski and snowboard clothing have been driving business.
"The brighter the colors, the faster it sells," said Mary Mancini, apparel buyer for Colorado Ski & Sports and five other skiwear stores in the Denver and Boulder area. "It pops on the snow."
Linda Rodney, national sales director at Sport Obermeyer, said the trend is a reaction to the challenging
economy. "When things are gloomy, people like to be bright. A big trend we are seeing is bright and printed bottoms to match the bright jackets that have been popular for the past couple seasons."
Snow wear designers, like those creating ready-to-wear, continued their infatuation with prints. Brands showed florals, plaids, stripes, graphics-influenced optic or geometric effects, artsy abstracts and watercolor scenics. Nothing was out of bounds, and as in mainstream fashion, color-blocking and asymmetric color treatments were also prevalent.
Not everyone wants to make such a splash, however, and what's trending among snowboarders and fashion-forward types who demand high-performance apparel to go with their state-of-the-art equipment is a more reserved, sartorial look. Muted colors, matte rather than shiny fabrics and understated menswear-inspired styling was shown by such brands as Holden, as well as category killers like Burton.
Jeanine Pesce of the trend forecasting service Stylesight said khakis and browns have returned. She called it "neutral mountaineering," and cites such influences as Carhartt for the resurgence of muted colors.
In a number of booths at SIA, the looks shown for the children were miniaturized
versions of adult styles, from Obermeyer's metallic quilted jackets to Nobis' streetwear-inspired parkas. Kat Jobanputra, chief operating officer of Specialty Sports Venture, said children's clothing has been selling well. "Parents are buying the good stuff and the higher-end skis and snowboards for their kids. Junior wants the same thing as his parents."
10 Trends from the 2012 Snow Show
1.Buying a canada goose parka from seller in another country. Sartorial: Borrowing from the boys, skiwear designers used gray flannel wools, muted brown tweeds and all manner of checks in looks for both men and women. Those materials, combined with double-breasted styling or belted trench-style design, made the trend look suited for the streets as well as the slopes. Burton went as
far as creating a plaid parka that looked like a collared button-down shirt. A muted palette of khaki, dark brown, black, navy blue and dark reds in matte finishes furthered the haberdashery feel.
2. Color blocking: For the last season or so, and continuing into spring, mainstream fashion has been obsessed with combinations of color. And at SIA, color blocks made the transition from ready-to-wear to active sportswear, appearing as stripes, squares, checks and disjointed bits of solid fabrics. The trend showed up everywhere from high-end technical collections from such makers as Spyder to children's looks from Obermeyer.
3. Asymmetry: You might want your skis lined up just so as you head down the hill,
but having things purposely askew is a fashion statement. Bits of fabric, cut shardlike and placed on angles in a garment, showed up, as did zippers placed off-center, or zig-zagged over the front of a jacket.
4. Studio space: It's been long suspected, and now confirmed: snow sports apparel designers are also artists who wield their design tools as freely as artists creating watercolors, oil paintings, abstract masterpieces, digital and graphic works.
5. Metallics are forever: Just when we thought the craze might be dying down, the luxe end of the snow sports category again emphasized silver, gold and bronze fabrics.
6. Fur sure: Fake or real, fur trims continued on a hot streak.
Lining hoods, topping boots and dangling as pom-poms from hats, you couldn't miss it.
7. Knit wit: When you think about knits and skiing, merino wool classics like Dale of Norway come to mind. But not only are the veteran brands changing, they're inspiring a new flock of companies to turn those so-so snowflake sweaters into something much more alluring. Krimson Klover of Boulder introduced skirts, jumpers, cowl-neck dresses and legwear in charming patterns while Icelandic Design of Longmont showed Asian-motif jacquared wool blend sweaters and added striped sleeves to jacquard designs to lend a sporty touch. Boulder-based Neve debuted styles it created in collaboration with designer Nicole Miller, including a hooded V-neck design and a color-blocked hooded poncho.
8. Technical ability: Manufacturers used new-generation fabrics that were thinner, softer and stronger than ever, while also being able to repel water and keep the wearer warm and dry. Manufacturers touted their use of Thinsulate, Primaloft, Gore-tex and a host of other materials, so smart shoppers will be reading all the hangtags on a garment they're considering purchasing to familiarize themselves with a product's features.
9. Shifting into neutral: While bright colors grab attention, the fashion-forward side of the business has been seeing renewed interest in neutrals and muted jewel tones. Looking at the slopes in Aspen, where the Winter X Games were underway at the same time as SIA, it was easy to see the trend to deeper colors among the top athletes.
10. Down not out: The softness and warmth of down insulation can't be beat, and fabric innovators continue to make it lighter, more compressible and even stretchy. Bergans of Norway's Myre parka mashes into a built-in stash bag that you can put in a pack and pull out when you need a little more coverage. Spyder Active Sports uses stretch down in its Chrono parka for women and Upside Down jacket for men. Also new are DWR (durable water repellent) finishes that help down stand up to the elements.
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