Feel The Need For Swede?

A new breed of Swede ski wear is buzzing the traditional ski brands with their fast-growing popularity thanks to a refreshing take on both style and sustainability.

Behind the rise of the Scandi brands are entrepreneurial, ski-loving Swedes with the vision to create well-designed, high performance gear, because they've perceived a lack of creative empathy from the long-standing big brands.

This new generation of ski wear bucks traditions, for instance selling D2C as in direct to consumer online instead of to retailers thus cutting down on costs and middleman markups, and, also, discouraging unnecessary consumerism and waste by not producing new lines every winter.

Use of recycled fabrics and sustainable production are, of course, a given.

MONTEC

Two brothers, Emil and Linus Hellberg are behind MONTEC. After importing skiwear from the States, they moved to creating their own label when they realised that the traditional ski wear producers were not listening to their customers and their needs.

So they launched MONTEC, based in Gothenberg, Sweden, with the idea of involving customers with the creation of their products and only selling D2C.

Their skiwear is acing it when it comes to head-turning coordination of jackets, pants and layers that are, also, practical because, yes, they have listened to their customers so an iPhone actually fits in that pocket.

Look out for the black and white mountain silhouette logo on some of the most stylish riders on the mountain including, er, a few of our STYLE ALTITUDE crew.

RevolutionRace

Pernilla and Niclas Nyrensten, a typically sporty couple from Borås, Sweden, launched RevolutionRace from their garage in 2014. In just over 10 years they have grown to a global company, with 130 employees and sales in over 40 countries. They sell only online with 18 unique web shops.

Their prices prove that you don't have to spend mega bucks for well-designed and functional ski wear. It, also, looks as cool as a Swedish glacier. You'll see their double R (one is upside down) worn by functional skiwear afficionados, including our Tech Editor, Gavin, who put their ski shell jacket and pants to the technical test. And then went online to order another jacket and two more pairs of pants.

Elevenate

Founded in the Swedish ski town of Åre, by Sara Rönngren, former competitive free skier and Jimmy Odén, IFMGA mountain guide. it's no wonder Elevenate is one of the most stylish yet functional brands out there.

With its name derived from the idea of doing an 'eleven' as in straight-lining in powder on a pair of skis, Elevenate is often favoured by ski tourers (our Editor is a big fan) who appreciate the high performance design emphasis including light packable layers and functional details such as long zip vents on ski pants for backcountry riding. 

Stellar Equipment

Co-Founders, Fredrik Dahl  and CEO John Crawford-Currie. launched Stellar in Sweden after feeling that the ski industry had lost connection with their customers while cutting costs and raising prices. 

They started Stellar Equipment to kick the traditional trends of holding endless budget meetings and showing at global trade shows, 'because we want to spend more time in the mountains we love, using fantastic gear and hanging out with great people'.

They sell D2C direct through their website and don't create new lines every winter but, rather, produce 'great products with timeless design from leading materials, only changing a product if they source superior materials or conceive an enhanced design.

Catch STYLE ALTITUDE'S Contributor, Josefine Lemmel As, in Stellar Equipment's easy fit Free Shell bib pants and jacket. Actually, you'll only catch her if you're also a full-throttle freerider.

Harlaut Apparel

Henrik Harlaut is a Swedish ski hero not only because of his plethora of freestyle medals (eight golds at X Games, bronze in the Olympics and Big Air silver in the World Championships) but also for his larger than life personality. And clothing. You may remember this legendary Swedish freestyle skier nearly lost his 4XL baggy pants in the 2014 Sochi Olympic Games resulting in a wardrobe malfunction costing him a medal but, on the upside, a briefs encounter that led to sponsorship by Bjorn Borg underwear.

Interviewed by STYLE ALTITUDE after the Games, he described his style as 'full of influences from skateboarding, snowboarding, hiphop and much more'.

It wasn't a great leap for him to harness these influences and launch his own clothing and skiwear line, Harlaut Apparel, distinguished by its outsize, baggy style, which is regarded as the coolest on the planet by those in the know - and the snow and/or skate park. With limited release of gear at a time, many items are gone in 60 seconds, selling at premium prices on the second hand market.

STYLE ALTITUDE has no affiliate arrangement with any brand or retailer and will not profit from any sales made through links in this feature.