Across the Board
There’s one thing snowboarders do not want to look like: skiers. Not for snowboarders are the tight stretch pants or Ivana Trump parkas seen on the Aspen ski set. This is a younger, more rebellious crowd that likes to cut new paths not only on the slopes but on the fashion front.
Snowboarders have long preferred apparel with a strong street influence--oversize pants, plaid flannel pullovers and cartoonish stocking hats and beanies. These days the clothes are less baggy (all that fabric just got in the way), but they still have more of a loose-fitting street/skate look than a svelte ski silhouette.
For winter 1994-95, a lot of snowboard apparel looks like it came from a vintage shop or thrift store. The jackets are a takeoff on bowling shirts and gas station attendant uniforms, with contrasting stripes and panels in classic ‘50s and ‘60s colors, like burnt orange and brown. Instead of stretch pants, snowboarders are opting for roomy work pants with fixed waistbands made of weather-proof nylon.
Spare, one of a dozen or so small snowboard apparel manufacturers that have recently sprung up in Orange County, designed a jacket it calls “The Kramer” after the “Seinfeld” character who regularly sports vintage shirts. It’s a nylon jacket that comes in retro hues with wide stripes down the front (about $100). Spare also introduced a no-frills zip-front jacket styled after a gas station attendant’s uniform, available in solid orange, brown, khaki or pale blue nylon ($84).
“Kids want to wear something that’s cool. They want to snowboard but have the same look as skateboarders,” says Shane La Voie, co-owner of Capital Distribution in San Juan Capistrano, which produces Spare and a new snowboard apparel line called Blond. Both lines are carried at Laguna Surf & Sport, Surfside Sports in Newport Beach and Killer Dana in Dana Point.
“Snowboarders want to look different but not flashy and stupid,” La Voie says. “They want to be respected.”
Blond offers letterman’s jackets and polo shirts out of waterproof nylon in colors like olive, caramel and brown, as well as work pants in brown, olive, gray and black (about $80-$100). One pullover comes in brown nylon with a ‘50s-inspired argyle knit collar ($95).
“The guiding principle of snowboard clothing is to look as different as possible from skiers. If skiers wear tight, Day-Glo outfits, then snowboarders will wear dark, loose clothes,” says Bill Sharp, marketing director for Burning Snow, a Newport Beach-based snowboard apparel maker.
Burning Snow’s styles have a strong work ethic: There’s a quilted nylon jacket that looks like a button-down work shirt in solid black, navy or gray (about $85), quilted work pants ($80) and nylon pullovers in burnt orange, mustard, olive, black or navy with a plaid flannel hood (about $150). The line is carried at Surfside Sports, Newport Ski Co. in Newport Beach and Orange and Inflight Surf & Sport in Seal Beach.
As snowboarding grows in popularity, the clothes, like the sport itself, have become more sophisticated. Snowboarders realize that, while they don’t want to look like skiers, neither do they want to get wet.
“Snowboarders got too cold and too wet for too long,” says Pam Hunzicker, head apparel buyer for Chick’s Sporting Goods in Tustin and Laguna Hills.
Now snowboard apparel manufacturers such as Burton, an industry leader, are offering the same kind of waterproof, breathable, high-tech pants and shells worn by skiers. Some jackets have vents that zip open to cool down the body, wicking material that keeps the body dry, and reinforced knees and seats.
“Companies used to make stuff that was waterproof but not breathable or stuff that was as stiff as piece of armor,” says Duke Edukas, co-owner of Surfside Sports in Newport Beach. “Now you have cutting-edge fashions, but they’re functional, too.”
Surfside’s most high-tech garment is a jacket by Burton with vents, closed seams, detachable hood and virtually every other conceivable feature for weathering severe conditions ($269).
Yet when heading for such local slopes as Big Bear, where conditions are milder than they are at Mammoth, Orange County snowboarders typically forgo the high-tech jackets and keep warm by layering pieces. They wear pullover shells or full-zip jackets over sweat shirts and wool sweaters over thermal underwear.
While snowboard apparel is geared mainly toward guys, the growing number of women entering the sport has caused apparel manufacturers to take notice.
Gone are the days when female snowboarders had to wear the men’s clothes in size Extra Small. Now there are lines such as Cold as Ice in Costa Mesa, Bombshell and Hard Pack making snowboarding apparel just for women.
“I’d been snowboarding for eight years and didn’t want to wear the guys’ stuff anymore,” says Darcy Lee, owner of Cold as Ice. She created her line that includes “girlie” looks such as fleece-lined nylon parkas and stirrup pants, some in photographic floral prints (available at Chick’s and Newport Ski Co. for about $160 to $200).
