Business Style: January

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Ski Chic

By Jeanne Winnick Brennan and Carol McCain

Whether you’re hanging with the free riders, schussing with the down hillers or lounging with the après-ski crowd, your choices for winter style and comfort this season are limitless.
    Just as the world is divided into beach people and mountain people, your business world can be divided into skiers and boarders — and colleagues who are neither. Don’t worry about what camp you’re in the next time your corporate retreat or industry conference is held at the top of a mountain. Whether you find yourself in the Sierra, Rockies, Alps or the Adirondacks, here’s a quick primer to help you put your best boot forward and pull off the winter resort look that works for you.
    Not long ago, the corporate trend was team building through extreme physical challenges. What you wore when rappelling, heli-skiing and bungee jumping with the CEO literally could have helped save your hide. Today, the importance of selecting the right clothing for your winter confab might seem a tad tame, but it could save your career. After all, if you’re going to advance in your profession and lead others, you need to look as if you’re comfortable wherever you land. So, don’t let the enormous diversity in winter apparel and all its new technology — avalanche detectors (we’re not kidding), waterproof zippers, fabrics you’ve never seen before, and gadgets (do you really need the microphone holder for heli-skiing?) — confuse you. Remember, style equals comfort plus function.
    Some of the hottest lines in clothing this season come from some of the ski industry’s oldest and strongest brand names in equipment — Marker, Oakley, Rossingnol and Solomon. Throughout the years, consumers have trusted these brands for solid performance, and now consumers expect the same with new clothing technology. Many of these companies also provide a separate clothing line dedicated to snowboarders who want a looser fit than downhill or cross-country clothing for their free-ride style.
    “What we really have in winter apparel are three basic looks — free ride, classic Alpine and the finer resort wear,” says buyer Angela Helm-Giles, of Sacramento’s Helm of Sun Valley. “Traditionally, the looks have been more distinct because the design has been driven by the different needs of each sport, but now we’re also seeing styles beginning to blend.”

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