Snowboard fashions trends

25 Jan '10

4 min read

There are no defined boundaries between street fashion and technical apparel in 2010/11 snowboard wear. The transition is fluid, particularly in jackets suitable for use in snow and city. The selection of materials – from cotton twill, blue denim, wool, down looks, to tweed and stretch – as well as the cuts offer a multitude of variations.

Slim, Light Weight, Attractive and Functional – Snowboard wear of the future looks great in the mountains and beyond:

- Light : Reduced weight thanks to material and pattern selection
- Fluid : No boundaries between function and fashion
- Elaborate : Details from rhinestones to knit
- Safe : Medical technology for helmets

Fluid: In general, the silhouette has become slimmer,jackets feature more prominent waists, pants are cut narrower and tighter in a cargo style, and the ladies' collection is not the only one with body-hugging designs. The looks are reminiscent of the styles of the Eighties, though overly flashy elements are muted by moderated cuts and warm colors. The colors are clear and deep: violet, orange, lapis lazuli blue, carmine red,turquoise, lava red, chocolate brown and raven black. Clean block stripes, large-scale diamond jacquard catch the eye just like imaginative prints like frost patterns, fantastical birds, Japanese flower garlands or camouflage prints with tiny Buddha figures. Herringbone,tweed, and pinstripe continue to be popular.

Light
The focus is on weight reduction for generally not exactly light-weight technical jackets.This is accomplished in part by using lighter weight fabrics, but also by cutting the jackets to fit closer to the body. These measures reduce the weight of individual hardshell pieces by about ten percent without compromising on comfort and functionality.

Natural
In addition to all known synthetic materials natural products are beginning to regain their foothold. In particular the technical underwear segment applies materials such as silk, wool, cotton, as well as bamboo, and the outerwear segment is increasingly following in its footsteps.

Ortovox offers its first complete collection made of Merino wool, “the world's best technical fiber”. The fine fiber is woven with the help of modern technology and is ideal for high activity sports. Yet Mother Nature not only has an influence over the fiber segment. She also inspires the colors for the snowboard fashions for the next winter: earth tones such as Tobacco or Wood, deep red, yellow, and orange shades reminiscent of autumn leaves and pumpkins. Maloja “renaturalizes” the Eighties; colors and cuts from the decade are revived, slightly muted and the shrill neon colors are substituted with warm shades.

Details
Even though the majority of 2010/11 snowboard wear is rather unembellished, there are plenty of elaborate small details: fabric-covered buttons, muted logo zippers, rhinestones, metal logos, and colorful lining materials turn seemingly understated garments into true eye candy.

Practical
These days, pockets for iPods and the required cable, goggle and cleaning cloth, keys and all that small stuff we lug around in our snow wear, are standard in almost all jackets. Yet many brands are working on further details. The powder cuff integrated in pants, for example, is

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