Luxury news: Skiwear sales soar for 2016

We’ve all seen that (now ubiquitous) Balenciaga red puffa jacket everywhere; from the Net-A-Porter autumn campaign; to the cover of Vogue, and finally, replicated in every high street shop. But it seems Demna Gvasalia’s first collection as creative director at Balenciaga has influenced the luxury market more than we might have thought.

Business of Fashion reports a rise in luxury brands selling or creating skiwear collections. In the past few years Net-A-Porter and Matches Fashion have both launched a dedicated ski section to their sites to great success.

Harvey Nichols‘ womenswear outerwear business has grown +75% year on year, with customers buying into the category all year round – not just in the winter months. The best performing brands continue to be Moncler and Canada Goose.

SJP in Stella McCartney for The Edit, Net-A-Porter.com

In London, which can get chilly (but nothing like the Arctic), you can’t walk down the street in the city centre without seeing someone wrapped up in a Canada Goose bomber jacket. Nowadays, we are seeking a blend in performance and style, rather than simply one or the other. Our high fashion pieces need to have some sort of function, other than just looking great. Just look at the A/W’16 collections of designers such as Stella McCartney, Marques’ Almeida, Raf Simons and Balenciaga.

Tommy Ton Instagram

Aside from retailers stocking more skiwear, brands are now developing their collections with this performance and sportswear attitude in mind. Neil Barrett launched a skiwear collection earlier this month, meanwhile Dsquared2 has released skiwear collections for men and women with prices from $360 to $2,500. Last year, Jimmy Choo took a number of successful fashion bloggers up to Zermatt to shoot a ski inspired campaign for A/W’15. Luxury brands are tapping into this desire for modern clothing to be functional and stylish.

“The woman today is realistic and wants something to keep her warm but is high-fashion, so it’s smart of the brands to offer a streetwear and skiwear classic, but one that is more rooted in couture fashion,” says Caroline Issa, chief executive and fashion director at Tank Magazine, reports BOF.

So will you be trading in your favourite tailored coat for a puffy Canada Goose? It seems likely…

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