PowderGuide reports live from the product lion's den. As the largest winter sports trade fair in the world, Ispo will once again bring together the "who's who" of winter sports in 2012. As at every trade fair, the focus is of course on selling and promoting one's own products. PowderGuide is devoting a multi-part product special to all products and innovations relating to freeriding. Skis, snowboards, bindings, clothing, emergency equipment and everything else you need as a ski tourer or freerider - or at least could need according to the manufacturers. In the first part, we look at clothing from a fashion point of view.
There aren't too many technical, innovative new developments to report on the clothing front. The textiles and functional membranes used remain quite similar, with minimal exceptions, and the colors will only change slightly next season. What is striking is that more and more manufacturers are producing plain garments in bright colors. Colorful, colorful, most colorful is the apparent motto here. In winter 2012/2013, the piste and avalanche warning service will therefore often have to issue warnings about the acute risk of eye cancer near ski resorts and on fashionable ski tours. What fashion has dictated to freeriders is now spilling over to ski tourers and piste skiers. Only the luxury brands remain unaffected by this phenomenon. They are still allowed to splash out. Fur and rhinestones as far as the eye can see.
A widespread trend, especially in freeride clothing, is the move away from the self-imposed monochrome diet. Instead of single-color outfits, several signal colors are now sometimes combined in large pieces - usually near the shoulders - which are usually cut slightly asymmetrically. This can be seen, for example, in the new Armada collection, Norröna, Patagonia or the new Peak series from Mammut. You can find a journey through the world of trade fair fashion in the following slideshow.
