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Bogner’s 25th anniversary edition of Fire + Ice unifies avant-garde with functionality. It was an exciting and evocative era for everything snow. The 1980s are forever marked by the swift rise of snowboarding, ‘extreme’ skiers hucking enormous cliffs, and the bold neon colors of exhilarating ‘80s ski fashion popping like fireworks against an all-white backdrop of snow. It was also an evocative era for Bogner, one of the world’s sexiest ski brands. Willy Bogner’s 1986 flick, Fire and Ice, wowed crowds with its vivaciousness—a film that captured the essence of youth and excitement on snow. Bogner ‘the ski fashion brand’ seized on Willy’s vision, creating a revolutionary Fire + Ice line of rebellious sports and snowboardwear in 1989 that spoke to a new generation — a complete contrast to the skiwear of the day.

Twenty-five years later, Bogner’s Fire + Ice is still burning, this season with a knock-out Anniversary Collection that breaks even newer ground in fashion ski clothing. Bogner brought together 14 extraordinary people – seven athletes and seven artists — each to design a piece for the collection, challenging set clichés and unifying avant-garde with functionality.

[blockquote style=”2″]Bogner designers identify the Fire + Ice wearing woman as sporty and self-aware. “She is looking for authentic styles fitting to her personality. She is on the hunt for styles with a sportive look — fashion follows function.”[/blockquote]

These artists and athletes “have formed a creative collective and turned their vision of fire and ice into unique fabrics,” say members of Bogner’s Fire + Ice design team. “They have confidently taken ideas from the zero hour of film and given them a completely fresh coat of paint.” Among the collective: 3-D Video artist Julien Simshäuser, snowboarder Reto Lamm, surfer and self-described “new school punk” Christian Fletcher, plus backcountry ski beauty Julia Murray, and Olympic ski racer Viktoria Rebensburg. The result of their collaboration is an active fashion line redolent with inspiration and passion. “The idea for the 25th anniversary collection was a new interpretation of the movie from 1986,” says a Fire + Ice team member. “We wanted to focus on those three themes: sport, art, and culture. We looked for a group of artists and sportsmen who are special in the way of doing things. The interesting part was to figure out how the sportsmen and the artists see our brand and how they implement their interpretation.” The resulting streetwear collection mixes pop-out colors with comic graffiti, eye-catching and irreverent designs on active Bogner clothing that owns its place as the younger and more casual brand in the Bogner spectrum. In skiwear, Fire + Ice’s 2015 winter line is youthful and fun, yet takes more of its cues from high fashion. “The theme was alpine runway,” says a Fire + Ice designer. “We tried to find materials from high fashion such as houndstooth and tweed patterns, which were then digitally printed on premium Japanese fabrics. To receive a functional quality, the jackets were also laminated to become perfect for active usage. In the sportswear collection, we had a mixture of wool jackets with herringbone pattern.” Bogner designers identify the Fire + Ice – wearing woman as sporty and self-aware. “She is looking for authentic styles fitting to her personality. She is on the hunt for styles with a sportive look — fashion follows function.”   Yet the line is not exclusive. “Lots of different types of women can find their favorite piece in our collection. There is the Nordic and warm parka; there is a fashionable and short ski jacket with function; there is the sportswear jacket with fur and function—one you can use on the street and also for skiing.” Launched in Berlin during Fashion Week in January 2014, in yet another irreverent move, the Fire + Ice anniversary collection was modeled by the dance troop Flying Steps, the world’s breakdancing champions. It’s a sure sign the evolving Fire + Ice line is staying true to its ‘80s roots, remaining rebellious, irreverent, and avant-garde, yet both fitting and functional—all for a youthful generation of skiers. When asked what the next 25 years holds for Fire + Ice, designers said this: “Sleek, modern, cleaner, and trying to work on aspects to combine function with fashion.” shop-us.bogner.com