Yahoo Finance Lindsey Vonn on Her Head Collection, Mikaela Shiffrin and Her Love for Thom Browne
Lindsey Vonn takes everything she does seriously. From the 82 World Cup victories and Olympic gold medals during her record-setting career on the ski slopes to her high-powered gym workouts and red carpet fashion, Vonn is accustomed to being at the top of her game.
Four years ago, she partnered with Head to create the Legacy brand of high-end performance sportswear. So it comes as no surprise that Vonn is intimately involved in the design of the collection, working with Head’s global vice president Roman Stepek to create a sophisticated assortment of ‘70s-inspired fashions that work as well on the mountain as in the lodge.
More from WWD
Her touch was evident for the coming winter season by the injection of color and pattern — baby blue, red, off-white and black along with patchwork prints in water-repellent leather bombers, high-waisted Jet Pants, puffer jackets and a signature jumpsuit that Vonn spends a better part of a year wear-testing to ensure every piece meets her high standards for style, comfort, performance and warmth. “I hate the cold,” she said, somewhat ironically given her career.
For the first time this coming winter, Legacy is introducing a men’s line. The palette of black or red features a few core pieces such as a parka with PrimaLoft Black insulation, a water-repellent lightweight jacket with taped seams, an insulated base layer and ski pants. Stepek said the tight collection for men ticks all the boxes and provides everything a man needs for his time on the slopes or the city streets.
The Legacy collection for men and women as well as the company’s performance line will be launched at Saks Fifth Avenue this fall for the first time. Until now Head’s apparel has primarily been carried at ski resorts, but Saks is adding the elevated Legacy collection along with the more “easily attainable” performance line, according to Jessica Goodman, executive sales director of Head Sportswear in North America.
Vonn was in New York Wednesday with the Head team to unveil the winter Legacy collection. Here, she talks about the collection, her favorite fashion designers, her charitable foundation and Mikaela Shiffrin.
WWD: You’ve been working with Head for four years and finally took the plunge into menswear with Legacy. Why now?
Lindsey Vonn: We wanted to make sure the women’s lineup was successful first. But there’s been such a high demand for the men’s and Roman obviously has such a good sense of material and he’s testing everything in a lot of scenarios. With men, it has to be technically perfect, versatile and also sophisticated. This line is chic and fashionable. My boyfriend loves it and my dad loves it. My dad is actually a very critical man. He’s a lawyer so he’s hard to please and he absolutely loved it, so I knew that we were onto something.
WWD: So can you share some styling tips for men and women?
L.V.: Sure. I can always give tips and tricks. Layering — that’s an underrated tip. I like having my turtleneck sweater, jacket, a sweater vest — multiple layers just to make sure there’s no way I could be cold. And it just looks cool.
WWD: You have the Legacy line with Head and you used to have a line with Under Armour, but both were rooted in performance. Would you ever design a fashion line?
L.V.: We had a collab last year with Gucci. And I definitely have a lot of relationships with other designers in the fashion world. Right now we’re focused on skiing, but we’re moving into more of the lifestyle part — après-ski. We definitely have plans to go wider. I would love to expand into true fashion at some point but I always want to make sure I’m doing the best that I can at what I’m doing. So I don’t want to spread myself too thin and not be able to really do this well. But I would love to someday, absolutely.
WWD: You mentioned Gucci and you’re wearing Alice + Olivia, but what other designers do you like?
L.V.: I know all the guys from Gucci, so I have a great relationship with them. I haven’t met the new creative director. But I love Off-White, vintage Tom Ford and Thom Browne is a really good friend. I love him dearly. I love that he’s able to make such a unique style modern and fresh. I’m going to his couture show in July in Paris; I’m very excited, I think it’s going to be amazing.
WWD: Are you going to walk in the show or just spectate?
L.V.: I’m going to watch. Thom always has these extremely high shoes or a bike that’s 15 feet high. I think for my own safety, I’ll just watch in admiration.
WWD: Now that you no longer compete, how do you get her competitive urges out?
L.V.: I’m still working on that. I play a lot of tennis, I just need to do something physically very challenging that is a little competitive. Skiing is different for me now. I’m enjoying the mountain in much different ways, like when I was a kid. It’s family, friends, the mountain experience. It’s not the competitive adrenaline rush that I used to have. When I’m working out really hard, I have to be very present. There are no distractions, no phones. It’s really the only time my brain is shut off. And I miss that.
WWD: So no pickleball for you?
L.V.: No, I don’t have enough friends for a pickleball game.
WWD: You have the Lindsey Vonn Foundation where you work with underserved girls through camps, scholarships and experiences. Why is that so important to you?
L.V.: It’s about empowering girls. It’s not specific to sports, but we try to give them the confidence to believe in themselves, and to go out and try to achieve their dreams — whether they want to be a doctor or a lawyer or a skier or a tennis player — I want to give them core fundamentals. So for example, our empowerment camps — we’re going to have one in Denver and one in Park City this year — has a curriculum. Our focus is, how do you change something negative into positive. A lot of times, people will tell kids they can’t do something, they’re never going to be good at something. Kids are so easily moldable. If you tell them they can’t do something, they truly believe it. So we’re just trying to reframe their minds, talk about positive body image, cyber bullying, and build good, true friendships — the core basic fundamentals of life that hopefully, get absorbed and help them in the rest of their lives. And we’ve also given $1 million in scholarships. So it’s 50 percent education, 50 percent empowerment. We’re trying to do both.
WWD: Getting back to fashion, are there things brands always get wrong when designing for female athletes?
L.V.: Yes, generally cut and performance. A lot of the materials are synthetic and not breathable, and we need certain things to breathe. And we need certain shapes. You know, I always want to be feminine, but have the performance aspect as well. I think a lot of people just assume that if you shrink it and pink it, that’s what we need. But definitely not.
WWD: Finally, how do you feel about Mikaela Shiffrin breaking your record of World Cup wins, and how far do you think she can go?
L.V.: It’s so great to see another American succeed. She’s such a great role model and someone who can really carry the torch for our sport and all sports. I think we need those positive role models because sports are so aspirational. She has unlimited potential and it’s just a matter of how far she wants to take it. So I’m excited to keep watching her and see what happens.
Best of WWD
