Colmar Originals

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. In the meantime, Colmar made its entrance into the lifestyle world with the launch in 2009 of the Colmar Originals line: the offering includes the now-famous down jackets, much more urban jackets that became a huge public success. Over the years, the collection expanded with sweatshirts, t-shirts, and shoes. 2011 was a year of celebration for Colmar as it, together with Ivica Kostelic, won the Overall World Cup. In the same year, the relationship with the FFS (French Ski Federation) was born, which consecrated a generation of talents such as Alexis Pinturault, Tessa Worley, JB Grange, Julien Lizeroux. In the last decade, the brand has grown both in the sports and lifestyle sectors. The brand has further explored both the research of increasingly technical and high-performance fabrics to aid athletic performance and the fashion world. Important collaborations have emerged with companies like Directa Plus, which produces Graphene (Colmar was the first company to apply it to fabric), as well as with world-renowned designers and stylists: capsules with Au Jour le Jour, Shayne Oliver, White Mountaineering. The company is still a family affair and is led by the third generation, the grandchildren of the founder, Mario, Giulio, and Carlo, and is still deeply rooted in the territory of Monza.