Luxury brand Sportalm Kitzbühel is Austria's most famous ski-wear company.
Sportalm is a genuinely unique clothing company, how many other ski-wear labels can be involved in designing and producing two such extremes of fashion, from a heritage range of traditional clothing and dresses, known as Tracht and Dirndl, to an ultra-chic, extremely modern range of luxury ski-wear and après clothing ? Not many, but Sportalm is one.
Although Sportalm does a range of ski clothing for men, it is best known by far for its women's fashion and clothing.
Sportalm's great history and clothing heritage dates right back to 1953, with Willi Kruetschnigg's creation of a knitting mill. In 1968, the company started producing its trademark Dirndls and Trachts in Kitzbühel, but then gave the products a modern twist in the 1970's with the use of non-traditional colours, such as yellow and pink, into the designs.
In 1973, Franz Kneissl became a partner of Sportalm and helped lead the brand into its position as Austria's leading ski-wear company. There was another change in ownership during the 1980's, as Wilhelm Ehrlich took over Sportalm, and the Ehrlich family has been in control of the company ever since, with Christina Ehrlich and Ulli Ehrlich heavily involved in the creation of some great designs, helping to place Sportalm at the forefront of luxury ski-wear brands.
If there is one thing that Sportalm knows about, it's style. From the 1980s onwards, Sportalm has been both forward thinking in its designs and ideas, whilst also retaining its heritage products.
Sportalm's designers have won the company many awards in the fashion industry, with their iconic collections, such as e.motion and ActLive, both going down particularly well amongst the ski-industry fashion police. Lots of attention to detail and sophisticated little extras on their outfits make Sportalm a distinct brand. And whilst Sportalm jackets have an extremely glamorous appearance, they still managing to look very Alpine, with traditional-style badges, for instance, featuring on many of their designs.
As well as Sportalm's range of ski jackets and pants, the label is well known for its fashionable après-ski clothing and casual-wear.
Sportalm has always prided itself on the manufacturing side of its business as well as its design department. In the 1990's Sportalm acquired factories in Madan-Varbina, Bulgaria, allowing the company to retain its production setup in Europe.
Sportalm uses innovative functional fabrics in its products and manufacturing still involves a lot of traditional techniques done by hand, giving their products a quality finish.
The luxury image of Sportalm ski-wear is also reflected in its luxury price bracket. For a Sportalm ski jacket you could expect to pay anywhere between £600 and £900 price range, whilst for Sportalm ski pants you can expect to pay somewhere between £200 and £400.
Sportalm clothing is available at the following Ski and Snow-sports Shops:
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