COLMAR

In 1923, Mario and Irma Colombo founded Manifattura Mario Colombo & C., a company in Monza, strongly tied to the territory, then an important hub in the production of felt for hats and gaiters. Indeed, the first significant product made by Colmar, a brand born in those years, was precisely this, written on a cigarette package during a creative exercise among friends at a bar, encapsulating the surname and name of the founder: COLombo MARio. The company thrived despite challenging years like the 1929 crisis and the socio-political situation of those times, such as sanctions against Italy for the war in Ethiopia, which negatively impacted entrepreneurial activities. Production was converted, and work overalls began to be produced using a special treated cotton, suitable, as it turned out, even for ski pioneers like Leo Gasperl (champion of Kilometer launch), essentially the first "testimonial" for whom Colmar created the Thirring, a cloak that, when inflated on the back, resembled a bat's wing, a colloquial nickname by which the product would be identified. Mario's premature passing left Irma's courage and the strength of her sons Giancarlo and Angelo to carry on the business. The difficulties brought about by the end of World War II were overcome by winning a contract to produce Saharan jackets for the French Foreign Legion. Colmar began its relationship (lasting until 1992) with the Italian Winter Sports Federation (FISI), with Pool Italia, the team of supplier companies for the squad, but above all with its champions, one in particular: Zeno Colò. From the champion's desire to seek increasingly high-performing garments and Irma's intuition to insert corset-like fabric along the sides, the "Colò sheath" was born, a jacket that would remain in the collection until the 1970s. In the 1960s, snow holidays experienced a real boom, Italians were in the midst of an economic miracle, skiing in the most exclusive resorts became a true lifestyle, and simultaneously, research continued, Giancarlo and Angelo's curiosity led the company to develop increasingly high-performance products for skiers and particularly for their champions. It was during this period that a special Colmar suit was born, with which in 1964, in Cervinia, Luigi di Marco broke the speed record in the KL. The 1970s saw victories from many champions such as Gustav and Roland Thoeni, Piero Gros, Paolo De Chiesa, Helmut Schmalzl, Fausto Radici, Herbert Plank, Erwin Stricker, Tino Pietrogiovanna. Skiing truly became a national sport and Colmar ascended many podiums, including the Olympic podium. Racing suits entered the wind tunnels of Fiat and Moto Guzzi, fabrics were tested by the Polytechnic University of Milan. The giant slalom suit was dubbed "la ceffa" by Stricker to emphasize its audacity. It was also the years when the famous slogan "In case of snow" was born, inspired by the road sign warning to put on chains. The 1980s were a boom time for advertising, for communication agencies, and the company began to buy space on ski slopes to fully exploit the commercial potential of television and reach users and consumers. In 1985, Colmar sponsored the Bormio World Championships and created a specific jacket for this occasion. Also, the modernization of the new brand arrived: the famous red and blue stamp was replaced by the name Colmar preceded by a stylized snowflake, created by a Swiss design studio that had just redesigned the Alitalia brand. After a decade of weak results, the class of Deborah Compagnoni, Manuela di Centa, and the strength of Alberto Tomba, among many others, once again made the world of skiing speak Italian. In 1992, Colmar ended its relationship with FISI, but not with the racing world, where the brand continued to be present in World Cup classics. In 1999, the first flagship store opened in France, in the exclusive Megeve, the first of a long series that, to this day, includes stores in Milan, Paris, London, and in the most famous ski resorts such as Cortina, Courmayeur, Kitzbuehel, Chamonix, and many others, totaling 15 flagship stores.