MILAN — As the first snowflakes dot the European Alps, the ski season’s kick-off, traditionally timed with the first week of December and around the 8th, a national holiday in Italy, seems promising.
As it gears up for the 2026 Winter Olympics, luxury ski resort Cortina d’Ampezzo is hosting a series of fashion initiatives at a time when winter sports seem to be high on fashion brands’ agendas given the number of skiwear collections that have bowed this year, from Balenciaga and Balmain to Chanel and Louis Vuitton.
Paul & Shark may be traditionally associated with sailing but as part of a broader lifestyle push it has linked with the storied Scoiattoli chalet and the Cortina d’Ampezzo ski club.
As part of the yearlong partnership with the former, kicking off Thursday with an après-ski party, the menswear brand is taking over the chalet and customizing tableware with its signature shark motif rendered in white and gold against the signature blue. The venue, located at about 7,400 feet, also features a ski mask-shaped installation on the panoramic terrace and on Thursday a light show will project a shark on the highest of the Cinque Torri, or Five Towers, mountain range.
In linking with the local ski club, Paul & Shark is customizing ski masks, sweaters and helmets, the latter in collaboration with ski equipment company Atomic, for the athletes throughout the 2023-2024 season. The partnership will be feted with an in-store cocktail on Friday held at its boutique on central Corso Italia.
Fellow fashion brands including Moncler, Fendi and Louis Vuitton are also flocking to the destination in the Dolomites with retail activations.
In keeping with its strong ties with luxury brands, local multibrand store Franz Kraler, which boasts several boutiques in the surrounding area including a unit on Corso Italia, has linked with Fendi. The luxury brand is taking over the store with starry window displays to mark the retail debut of the Roman house’s winter holiday capsule collection. It comprises several festive renditions of its signature Peekaboo and Baguette bags decked in crystals, rhinestones, studs and sequins, in one design arranged in the shape of naïve stars, as well as shiny silver metallic and mirror-like surfaces.
Marking the linkup, Franz Kraler — which owns the Rio De Saco mountaintop lodge — is throwing a Michelin-starred dinner by Graziano Prest, followed by an after party.
The retailer was also selected by Moncler as part of the latter’s focus on the Grenoble high-performance collection for a pop-up activation, as well as by Ferragamo, which is leveraging the high-season weekend to introduce its après ski range.
Further signaling the city’s appeal, American outdoor brand Filson, which since 2021 has been distributed in Europe under license by workwear company WP Lavori in Corso, is opening its first European flagship in Cortina d’Ampezzo, a stone’s throw from Corso Italia. The opening marks the debut of the blueprint for Filson’s European stores, which are decked in light wood in nods to the natural landscape of the state of Washington where the U.S. brand is based.
These initiatives fall within Cortina Fashion Week, a long weekend running through Sunday organized by local association “Cortina for Us,” which comprises other fashion activations by such brands as The North Face, Montura, Diadora, Moorer, Pollini and Golden Goose.
