NEW YORK — With the ski season just underway, Bomber is advancing its agenda to be recognized as a performance luxury brand.
Skis aren’t typically associated with luxury, but Bomber, which sells high-end, innovative skis and skiwear, has undertaken a number of initiatives, among them the mid-November opening of a 1,500-square-foot shop in The Four Seasons Resort in Vail, Colo., with a single-season lease that runs through May. The shop launched with a three-day trunk show and a video monitor by the resort’s entrance promoting the event.
In Aspen, the Wild Willow Outfitters store inside the Hotel Jerome installed a full Bomber presentation of ski equipment and clothes, and also demos the handmade Bomber skis. “It’s basically a ‘special experience store’ that converts to Bomber in the winter while still being run by Wild Willow,” Robert Siegel, owner of Bomber Ski, told WWD.
In other maneuvers, Olivier Rousteing, creative director of Balmain, created a limited-edition Balmain-Bomber ski that, according to Siegel, could lead to Rousteing designing Bomber ski helmets and poles next year.
And Bomber extended its “Artist Series” skis with Italian artist Piero Golia, represented by the Gagosian gallery. The series expands on the concept, which in the past has involved the works of Jean-Michel Basquiat, Keith Haring and Dee Ali.
On Dec. 20, to alleviate some of the “pain points” of skiing, as Siegel put it — which generally revolve around the hassles of getting outfitted with equipment for a day on the slopes — a Bomber a subscription membership plan is being launched. It’s a pricey membership, Siegel acknowledged, providing the convenience of having rental ski equipment delivered to your hotel or chalet to avoid the lines for rentals at the ski shop.
The plan also provides skis in different colors and co-branded styles, such as Bomber’s Haring or Basquiat models. The idea is to match the skis with the ski outfit, even swap out the skis to match the next day’s outfit. The membership, available at select resorts in the U.S. and Europe, is offered in tiers based on the level of services provided — $5,000, $10,000 and $25,000. “We are trying to elevate the alpine experience by removing pain points,” Siegel said.
Bomber is in its fifth year of collaborating with Bentley on skis, poles and helmets, with additional versions being produced year after year, and Bomber has been getting creative providing special experiences such as helicopter skiing, dog sledding as well as dining opportunities at high altitudes. Ski prices average $1,900, with the artist series averaging $2,250, and the Bentley series, $2,850 to $3,750.
But sometimes for a high-end ski brand like Bomber, it’s a slippery slope.
“Stores should present our equipment for what it is — a true luxury performance brand,” Siegel said. “Instead, most stock the skis like cheap commodities against a wall 20-feet wide, and that’s not what luxury is,” Siegel said. “Luxury is treating each product like an Hermès or Chanel bag, like it’s a jewel. We’d rather not be in a store at all than be in a store that displays us as like cheap commodities.”
Siegel isn’t, of course, the first brand executive to complain about retailers that don’t give his products the treatment they deserve on the selling floor, though he identifies some progress rectifying the situation.
“In our Four Seasons shop and in Hotel Jerome, where the merchandise is almost exclusively Bomber, we help decide how to display our products. The Four Seasons, for example, has custom racks for easy access to the skis, and helmets shown on pedestals, as a gallery might display a work of art.
“At the Montage in Deer Valley, which sells our ski clothing as part of their whole ski store, they agreed to display us as a luxury product should be displayed. The Montage Group has us in three of their hotels.”
Siegel is also chief executive officer of Metropole Realty Advisors Inc., which has a portfolio of properties either wholly owned or owned through affiliates, on Fifth Avenue and Madison Avenue in New York, Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills and Kalakaua Avenue in Waikiki, Hawaii. Luxury tenants at those locations include Chanel, Gucci, Christian Dior, Golden Goose, Bottega Veneta, Moncler and Miu Miu.
So Siegel knows a thing or two about displaying luxury. He says luxury brands have strict criteria on display, including spacing outfits apart so each can be readily seen and accessed. “Then you have things like training the sales employees on how to rearrange things that get ruffled, or sending thank you notes to clients, and all these details and procedures are followed to make sure every customer is ultra satisfied. I know the thought that goes into it.
“Ski stores are often family-owned and I love them,” Siegel added. “They love skiing, but they don’t have this level of training. Nobody has ever taught them, and they’re so busy running their stores.”
Siegel, an avid skier himself, bought Bomber in 2013, two years after the brand was launched. He said the Bomber skis are made utilizing cutting-edge materials and technology and handcrafted at the Bomber factory in Cossato, Italy. The brand is sold in 40 stores in Europe, seven in America and online. The skis are also designed “so you feel confident and safe on your skis. That makes you relaxed so you ski better. You can ski with your teenagers whereas before perhaps you couldn’t keep up with them. And then you also want to look great.”
“There are very few luxury performance brands. Being outdoors in nature, doing an activity is becoming a luxury experience, especially after COVID-19. That is one of the reasons I bought Bomber. I realized the world was getting oversaturated with product and experiences were being more valued than products.”
