Aspen's shopping scene heats up for the holidays

Balmain is landing in Aspen, Colorado this week. And it's not the only one.

The French brand is part of a growing number of fashion houses organizing events and opening boutiques pop-ups in mountain resorts for vacations, chasing the growing ski gear and equipment market which Future Market Insights predicts will generate $1.6 billion in global revenue in 2022 and $2.26 billion by 2032.

The trend took Giorgio Armani to St. Moritz, Switzerland on December 10 to present a fashion show for Neve, a new skiwear line, and several players, including Louis Vuitton, Pucci, Farm Rio and Off-White, have launched new skiwear brands this season.

Aspen Skiing Company, which owns and operates Aspen Snowmass in Colorado as well as The Little Nell and Limelight, was at the forefront of the fashionable skiwear movement, launching its own luxury clothing brand and flagship store AspenX in 2021. The brand was conceptualized by artist Paul Crown and collaborated with Prada on three ski clothing collections.

Courtesy AspenX Prada

Now more luxury gamers are flocking to famed Aspen, where Kendall and Kylie Jenner once landed for the season, wearing trendy coats and shopping at local boutiques.

Balmain takes up residence in downtown One Hour Ahead from December 16 to January 6, for the second shutdown of his Villa Balmain virtual reality experience which debuted during Art Basel Miami Beach. Occupying a 2,300 square foot gallery, the pop-up mixes fashion, technology and art to showcase the Egyptian-inspired Resort 2023 collection and Balmain's Apres Ski collection.

Max Mara hits the ski town in Colorado starting December 16 at the Aspen Times Printing House at Jerome Hotel.

Outside, the Italian luxury brand will install a life-size ice sculpture...