SPONSORED PROFILE: BOGNER – CELEBRATING 90 YEARS OF HIGH-TECH LUXURY
In 1932, ski champion Willy Bogner Sr. (pictured above) and his wife Maria started the Willy Bogner Ski Company in the center of Munich, a business selling skis, equipment, and imported Norwegian knitwear. Beginning as a small production plant in a courtyard, it quickly made inroads into the market and, only four years later, equipped the German ski team at the 1936 Winter Olympics.
In 1948, Maria Bogner created stretch ski pants, a revolution at the time, as they were constructed from a flexible material and had stirrups, allowing for comfort of movement while skiing. These pants would become known globally as “Bogners.” A few years later, Maria came up with another new concept to introduce to the apparel industry: branding. She created a signature “B” zipper pull for Bogner ski jackets, allowing wearers to proudly show that they’re sporting the best ski wear available.
All of their unique innovations and advancements in technology have earned Bogner the reputation as a leader in the “athluxury” world. Still family-owned, Bogner is now a complete lifestyle brand for men, women, and children, including a younger, lower-priced collection called Fire + Ice. In all their divisions, the Bogner brand makes the wearer look fabulous, on and off the slopes.
To celebrate their 90th anniversary this year, there are numerous activations in the works that we’ll be hearing about shortly. If the press is anything like it was for the just-completed collaboration the women’s division did with LoveShackFancy, the brand that created the pandemic favorite “nap dress”, we have a lot to get excited about. “We have some unexpected things planned that push the imagination of what a ski brand is,” said Erick DeLeon, Sales Director for the brand.
Bogner is currently carried globally by the best retailers in the world including Bergdorf Goodman, Saks Fifth Avenue, Mr. Porter, Matches, and Harrods. They compete in the rarefied world of customers who don’t want to sacrifice technology for style or style for technology. Clearly, Bogner is one of very few brands incorporating both into everything they create.