If anyone understands skiing jackets, this one is goat Miller. The professional skier tested numerous skiing brands throughout an 18 -year career that covered five winter Olympics, six Olympic medals and 33 World Cup wins. But in 2015, while training in Portillo, Chile, he wore Aztech Mountain’s Nuke Suit jacket, a ski mark founded by the couple Heifara Rutgers and David Roth from Aspen, Colorado. He was shocked.
“I could see that it was highly developed because of the founders’ connection with Aspen,” said Miller. “They clearly spent a lot of time on the mountain and understood the technical aspects of fabric and design.”
Miller admired the jacket trim, breathability and the ventilation system for better heat circulation and movement. He appreciated well -positioned pockets, open sleeves to make the use of gloves easier – and the undeniably cool style.
He later met with Rutgers and Roth, and the three of them joined, with Miller acting as Aztech Mountain’s innovation director and consulting with some styles, such as Hayden 3L Shell Jacket and Shell Pant. He was also the brand’s face for three years.
“To this day, I think this jacket is, if not the best, then part of a very small group of the best ski jackets I’ve ever wore,” Miller said.
Ten years later, Aztech Mountain remains an icon in Aspen, aimed at those who prefer to look for the first clues in the Silver Queen gondola than to delight in champagne rains in the cloud Nine bistro. In a category full of excessive shine and logos, where luxury ski brands have turned the tracks into a catwalk, Aztech Mountain prioritizes performance and accuracy.
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Instead of flashy branding, your clothes are defined by careful details: mountain -shaped zippers, elegant silhouettes and the right touch of neon and prints. It is a mark recognized for head a nods among gondola passengers, a discreet status emblem among connoisseurs.
Aztech Mountain’s fashion and function fusion is no coincidence. Rutgers, who leads design, merchandising and creativity, spent much of his career at Marc Jacobs. In 2013, he started working on a new type of jacket-originally for Barneys New York-and recruited a team of friends and former designers of Jacobs to bring the project to life.
“I tried fashion at the highest level and saw the growth of Moncler and Canada Goose,” said Rutgers, who, together with Roth and his 4 -year -old daughter, divides his time between Aspen and Tribeca, where it is located only independent brand store.
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For Rutgers, chasing skiing clothes was an obvious choice. His father moved his family to Aspen in 1974 and began to teach ski. Rutgers grew up competing in ski races and watching Downhill competitions from his point of view near Ruthie’s, the Ajax Mountain lunch kiosk. Its favorite track is Aztec, which named the brand. Some of Aztech’s first styles presented vintage photos obtained from the Historical Society.
“I always say that Aspen is our muse,” said Rutgers. “It’s the backbone of everything we have ever done. I loved growing up there and was lucky for having parents who were in Aspen when everything was really happening. ”
In 2013, Rutgers presented a small collection to a family friend Lee Keating, who, along with her husband, Tom Bowers, owns Boutique Performance Ski on Aspen. The store became the first wholesaler to support the brand. To this day, Keating appreciates Aztech’s minimalist aesthetics in a ski -style world that values excess.
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“They stay in theirs,” she said. “They don’t put a lot of skin on their jackets. Do not adorn their jackets. There are no extra crystals, feathers or logos. It is discreet and cool. If you understand, you understand. ”
Triana Trujillo, a personal stylist in Aspen, loves to mix combinations of Aztech’s prints and solid colors. She considers modern collections without looking excessive.
“You see a lot of tourists coming wearing big and crazy pieces and super -adjustable mountain pants,” said Trujillo. “The places love Aztech because we tend to dress more technically.”
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For those who see the clues as their personal catwalk, skiing has never been so good. Independent brands like Goldbergh, Cordova and Perfect Moment are gaining space in the industry alongside traditional brands such as Bogner and Moncler. Even consolidated brands of prêt-à-porter (ready to dress) such as Zegna, Brunello Cucinelli and Loro Pianna are exchanging the city’s suits for ski costumes. The result is a growing variety of options that serve those whose ski choice is Après-Ski (post-exquis).
“We always say that if you can use it in New York and Aspen, it’s a good product,” Rutgers said. The Super Nuke jacket for women, for example, has a cropped silhouette that can work with both a ski jumpsuit and jeans and boots.
“But it’s a challenge we face,” he said. “What are we? Are we fashion? Are we ski? The easy answer is that we are skiing, really. ”
Aztech’s fashion campaigns could make you think otherwise. Rutgers collaborates with fashion industry veterans, such as Casey Cadwallader, Mugler’s artistic director, and Laura Zaccheo, former Marc Jacobs’s head chief. Fashion stylist Jay MassaCret, who worked with McQueen, Kenzo and Calvin Klein, stylizes high concept lookbooks and social campaigns. They photograph the clothes not on a mountain, but in unexpected places, such as imperial dunes in California or on the streets of Paris. This is not what you could find in Backcountry magazine.
There is also the question of how to climb “Aspen”. As Aztech Mountain expands to global markets, the challenge is not only growth, but preserving the brand’s distinct ethics of the brand while translating it into immersed destinations in its own skiing traditions. In December, the company opened its first store inside another store at the Alberg Hotel in Lech, Austria, a movement that signaled its commitment to reinterpret the MuSEN mindset to a demanding European market that is loyal to traditional brands.
But what Aspen is Aztech selling? Between the influencers’ brigade and the prices of houses firing, today’s Aspen is far from the city of skiing together. The local spirit of unpretentious snow search engines has given way to a scene where the lines for the cars are longer, the cache tables are reserved months in advance and the cost of entry – for a family of four people or a pass from Season – It has never been so loud.
Still, for those who know where to look, the soul of the old Asen persists: in the first clues in Highlands, in a well -worn bank in the J Bar and among the subtle samples exchanged in a gondola.
“At first, we thought Aspen would be a negative factor for people,” Rutgers said. “Can we talk about Aspen if we are trying to sell in St. Moritz or Lech or Lenzerheide? What we realized was that we needed to delve into this. I was lucky to ski virtually everywhere, and every time I go back to Aspen, I am remembering that this place is really special. ”
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