Ottolinger PRE-FALL 2023 – VOGUE
Fri 13 Jan
For the Swiss-born, Berlin-based designers Christa Bösch and Cosima Gadient, après-ski is the world’s shortest poem, a culture unto itself.
“Everyone has this romantic fantasy about the mountains, and things are changing now,” the duo said during a Zoom call. But as the ski season narrows, the sport’s aura—and afters—remain larger than life.
The “easiest part of skiing” gave them a chance to explore the space between exiting the slopes, peeling off protective gear and heading straight into the night. From there, the designers went to town deconstructing thick knits and embellishing pieces informed by skiwear and mountain essentials circa 1975, then bringing them into the more flamboyant present with velcro, cord straps, lashings of faux fur and, for the doodle-y orange prints, a partnership with the Polish-born, Zurich-based artist Rafal Skoczek.
Stripped of its thermo-regulating function, ski underwear morphed into mesh leggings in thick jersey with peekaboo cutouts and wrap-around lacing that will let the fierce and fearless do “a short look but with long pants,” the duo explained. That idea circled back on mesh leggings in recycled polyester with gradient checked motifs that faded into a yellow hue. (Viral though the pantsless look may be, IRL they envision those paired with a short skirt, for example). Fluffy gradient knits, the result of a partnership with an Athens lab, were developed for shape recall and designed to evoke the horizon at altitude. Elsewhere, a long, spiral-seamed dress with graceful trumpet sleeves packed a sly sleight of hand: that semi-detached sleeve can be worn as pictured here or left loose and wrapped around the neck like a scarf. In a first for the brand, curve-hugging denims were left unembellished, the better to show off cuts.