Menswear Designers’ Take On Skiwear

It was not so long ago that sports purists would have scoffed at the idea of wearing ski gear from a fashion house rather than by a specialist outfitter. But today fashion designers and luxury brands are increasingly offering serious sporting credibility and a styling upgrade. At the Ralph Lauren Purple Label show, for example, held at the company’s Milanese palazzo earlier this year, the brand revealed its first skiwear collection, all in co lours and fabrics that effortlessly dovetailed into the main line. The insulated Gurnell jacket and matching olive ski pants have hidden stretch-mesh ventilation, rubberized metallic trims and zips worthy of test pilots and, perhaps most reassuringly, feature Recco Rescue System technology that’s designed to help rescue teams locate the wearer under up to 300m of avalanche snow. It was a look of such Top Gun meets piste-savvy style, it would be hard to ask for more, except perhaps an ejector seat. See more at Financial Times.