The rise of Alpine retail

It’s every ski fashionista’s worst nightmare: you arrive in your luxury hotel for your long-awaited holiday, open your suitcase, and realise you’ve left your best designer salopettes behind.

For visitors to the world’s elite ski resorts, this type of wardrobe malfunction need no longer present disaster. From luxury icons such as Gucci, Prada, Hermès and Louis Vuitton, to high-end ski brands Moncler, Fusalp and Arc’teryx, more are looking to open bricks-and-mortar stores in top resorts.

“Coming out of the pandemic, well-heeled customers have an increased appetite for leisure travel,” says Marie Hickey, Commercial Research Director at Savills. “And with more insights about their clientele thanks to an increase in online shopping, particularly during the pandemic, luxury brands feel more confident to expand into markets where their customers holiday, whether that is in ski resorts, Ibiza, the Greek islands, or even further afield.”

She adds, “Prior to 2019, luxury brands might have opened the odd store or popup in a ski resort. Now, many are taking a longer-term view, despite the challenges. The focus is on getting closer to their customers.” She highlights the difficulties of navigating seasonality, of finding an appropriate retail location in these often relatively opaque markets, not to mention unpredictable and warmer weather limiting time on the pistes.

Hickey caveats that the data for luxury alpine retail is still rather “bumpy” – due to it being a nascent and, as yet, comparatively small market. However, a look at the high street shopping of the world’s most prestigious ski resorts supports her theory. Aspen boasts the highest number of permanent luxury stores, according to Savills research, with nine of the big names from Balenciaga to Ralph Lauren, Van Cleef & Arpels, Dior and Louis Vuitton. Courchevel 1850 comes in second with seven stores, while St Moritz, Gstaad, Crans Montana and Vail are all home to four or more permanent luxury brands.

Unsurprisingly, there is a correlation between a high number of permanent stores and destinations with the longest seasons, Savills data shows. Those resorts in Switzerland and France sitting under a glacier tend to be hotspots. Moving across the Atlantic, North American resorts are becoming more reliable as a base due to recent weather changes bringing high volumes of snowfall during the winter season.

“Come snow or sunshine, consumers enjoy shopping in store. If you are buying a Moncler ski jacket or Dior snow boots, people want to try before making these purchases,” says Jeremy Rollason, Director & Head of Savills Ski. He points out the cachet to having luxury brands in the neighbourhood, and the desire to be in good company: “It’s like a herd mentality: if one arrives, others will follow.”

For relative newcomers to the luxury ski market, such as Andermatt – a Swiss resort that has been transformed by an Egyptian billionaire’s vision – the importance of bringing in the right names is key to cementing a reputation. Alongside the award-winning five-star hotel The Chedi Andermatt, and the opening of the Andermatt Golf Course, next year a handful of luxury retail brands will open doors at the resort – their identities, for now, tightly guarded. In addition, the resort is welcoming the culinary heavyweight, triple-Michelin starred chef, Andreas Caminada, who helms restaurant IGNIV. The interiors of the new restaurant will be designed by the renowned interiors guru, Patricia Urquiola, who will also design 17 luxury apartments on the resort.

At more established resorts, such as Gstaad in Switzerland, the streets are increasingly paved with aspirational names. Tim Weiland, the general manager at the five-star Gstaad hotel The Alpina, says the appetite for luxury shopping is something he has watched flourish over time.

“Gstaad has certainly seen a strong rise in high-end retail, with many of the small local shops in the pedestrian street having been taken over by the well-known international brands,” he says.

The prestigious hotel has played a part in allowing smaller luxury brands to gain a foothold in Gstaad by hosting select pop-ups. Many upcoming brands might not have the resources to open a full-time presence, but are a good fit, and interesting as newcomers for the clientele to discover. Divan Luxury Goods, a pre-loved luxury watch startup from Geneva, will run a pop-up store at The Alpina during the 2023/24 winter season for the second year running.

Weiland adds that Gstaad makes an ideal vantage point for luxury boutiques as it attracts visitors throughout the year, and maintains a strong community of permanent residents, so much so that a prestigious private members’ club, Club de Luge, recently opened its doors in the Berghaus on Eggli Gstaad.

“Luxury offerings cater to the far-travelled tourists in both summer and winter seasons, and also to the well-heeled residents that call Gstaad their home year-round,” he explains. Weiland adds that there are increasing numbers of non-skiers joining skiers on holidays. These visitors need something to do while their friends or family are carving up the slopes, whether that’s enjoying the spa or indulging in a bit of retail therapy. Resorts are continuously working to improve their non-skier offering, both in and out of season, and retail plays a key role in this.

Sought-after skiwear brand Fusalp has had a shop in Gstaad for several years, as well as in other high-end Swiss and French resorts, including Val d’Isère, Courchevel 1850 and Verbier, to name a few. For them, seasonality is not a concern. “We embrace the ever-changing seasons,” says Fusalp CEO Alexandre Fauvet. “ Fusalp today isn’t just about skiwear; it’s elevating year-round style and enhancing the body in motion. Mountains come alive in a different way in the summer, and so do we. With stores in iconic destinations like Vail, Aspen, Megeve, Verbier, St Moritz, and more, our commitment to a year-long presence is unwavering.”

For other brands that have moved beyond the pop-up phase but are yet to dip their toe into a standalone store, the opportunity for a more permanent physical presence can present itself organically. That is how it was for Perfect Moment, the luxury skiwear brand co-launched by Ibiza-based ski-lover Jane Gottschalk in 2017. Beloved by celebrities such as the Duchess of Cambridge, Michael Fassbender, Cara Delevingne and Bradley Cooper, it is known for its star logo, its bold colours and retro style.

Up until recently, Gottschalk felt ambivalent about opening a fully fledged store. “To date we have avoided our own retail altogether; we operate a Direct to Consumer (DTC) business and work with retail partners such as Harrods and Selfridges; we have a lot of city focus.”

However that will soon change, when the first Perfect Moment store will open its doors in Verbier. “We have a partner there in the skiwear industry and he showed us the opportunity,” Gottschalk explains. “We also have Perfect Moment-wrapped ski cabins this season, plus a great client base there, so it’s a good fit.”

With strong pent-up demand for a slice of the luxury ski lifestyle, it seems that for many retailers, hanging your hat in an elite ski resort will remain highly desirable.