Fashion Mogul #8: Why Ski Clothes Will Never Be Fast Fashion

Ski fashion sits at the crossroads between luxury and functional fashion. For that reason alone, it will never fall victim to the worldwide crisis known as fast fashion.

While this may seem like an obvious statement, its implications are great.

Fast fashion can be defined as low priced, trendy clothing that moves through trend cycles quickly: first appearing on catwalks or in fashion shows, then moving down to accessible and popular items worn by the masses, and finally discarded as the latest-and-greatest trend pops up.

Earth.org explains that fast fashion made its debut in the beginning of the 1990s, when Zara opened in New York. "'Fast fashion' was coined by the New York Times to describe Zara’s mission to take only 15 days for a garment to go from the design stage to being sold in stores."

The appeal is obvious to consumers: having easy access to trendy clothing for cheap prices makes it possible for everyone to achieve "in" looks and keep up with the times. However, with the introduction of micro-trends, some items of clothing are popular for less than a month, even staying en vogue for just days at a time.

The Harvard Crimson explains micro-trends as "what you see on your for-you page," implying that social media platforms such as TikTok and Instagram have accelerated this issue. The article defines micro-trends as items that "cycles of short-lived trends that gain a high amount of attention in a fairly short period outside of traditional trend cycles, and then fall off the grid and lose public relevance almost just as quickly." Think: your regular fashion trend on steroids.

Worst of all, fast fashion is to blame for pollution. Business Insider reports that fashion production totals 10% of total global carbon emissions, as much as the European Union.

From a standpoint of ethical consumption, there is really no place for trends. But we live in a capitalist society. It is virtually impossible to exist without a few personal flaws-- nor should we strive to be morally perfect.

What we should strive for, and what the ski fashion industry has done, by and large, is to embrace ethical consumption in a reasonable and useful way.

Ski fashion, which is mainly ski outerwear, is expected to survive at least one season of wear and tear. More wear and tear than your average blouse or pair of jeans you wear to run errands or on date night. Ski outerwear needs to function not just to look good, but to keep you warm, able to move comfortably, and protect you in situations of duress.

Ski outerwear is not expected to be cheap, which is actually a benefit from an environmental standpoint. Ski jackets and bibs are investments, not wardrobe additions that may or may not be fun years down the road.

When consumers spend thousands of dollars on an outerwear kit, they are unlikely to discard that kit one, two, or even 10 years down the road. A Black Diamond ski jacket is often around 400 to 500 dollars. It is hard to imagine someone discarding that without at least giving it a second thought.

Ski outerwear functions the way a capsule wardrobe functions. You buy your base layers, coat, and pants, and you accessorize on top of those basics with fun, inexpensive add-ons. If you have an all-black ensemble, perhaps you opt for neon pink ski poles for a splash of color. If you are rocking an '80s-inspired one-piece suit, perhaps your helmet is black or grey to balance things out. If you get tired of the current look, it's easy to switch up the outfit with a simple swap of a balaclava, mittens, gloves, or helmet. You don't have to change everything to stay "on trend," which, let's be honest, there aren't massive ones in the ski world to begin with.

Plus, skiing is a sport. Clothes, no matter how much weight I--and others--may sometimes place on them, will always play second fiddle to the act of skiing itself.

But clothes are part of the culture, especially for park and street skiing where style is considered and films are made celebrating creativity of all kinds. Park and street skiers embrace thrifting and multi-purpose clothes. Drawing from skate culture, kids make their own designs and look to thrift stores to find their wardrobes. There are many park and street-specific ski brands such as Vulgus365, Arsenic Anywhere, the list goes on. These brands are adding value to ski clothing by building community. A shirt or jacket from Vulgus365 is more than just the materials used to construct it: it is a part of ski culture and buying this jacket makes one feel "part of" a group or movement.

Looking through the decades of ski fashion, using POWDER Magazine's older issues as the control of the experiment, ski fashion doesn't cycle through trends at nearly the same rate as normal fashion. While skiers from the '80s certainly wore different pieces than skiers today, the outfits on models in VOGUE Magazine are almost unrecognizable compared to the outfits on their pages today.

Skiing may be an expensive sport, but it also may help inform our off-mountain choices. Capsule wardrobes and environmental consciousness will always be in style.

Related: Fashion Mogul #7: What Happened to One-Piece Ski Suits?

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