SNOW Alps 25-26 web - Flipbook - Page 68
LINDSEY
VONN
Dressed to Kill
From start to finish and back again, Lindsey Vonn
is on course for her biggest challenge yet.
by LESLIE WOIT
L
indsey Vonn has nothing left to prove. One of the
winningest racers in alpine ski history – with 82 World
Cup golds and three Olympic medals, for a start – she’s
spent the last half decade redefining strength beyond
the stopwatch. Since retiring in 2019, she’s had a partial knee
replacement and last winter launched a comeback – 40 years
old, off the race circuit for six years, and just eight months after
the surgery – that saw her finish in the top 10 of three World
Cup races, including a silver at the final event of the season.
Now, with a renewed focus on her eponymous new Vonn
skiwear line and hopes of an Olympic return 24 years after
her debut in Salt Lake City, she stands at a crossroads. In the
start gate once again and pain free, her gaze is trained on the
mountain and the moment ahead.
Renaissance? Reinvention? Either way, it beats the hell out
of getting a tattoo.
“Good timing,” she says, settling into our conversation.
“I just finished my workout.” Her voice carries the clarity
of a lifelong athlete, plus a dash of a-girl’s-gotta-live energy.
The night before, she’d been at an Academy Gala featuring
Springsteen to celebrate her birthday with friends from Rolex
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– proof that dedication and discipline can share a dance floor.
Freshly 41, she’s training as intensely as she ever did –
perhaps harder now, given the task she’s set herself: to open
her racing season in December at the downhill in St. Moritz
and peak in February at the Cortina Olympics, on the fearsome
Olimpia delle Tofane downhill course. It’s a Herculean goal,
even before you factor in ambitions that now extend far beyond
the mountain.
Her latest pursuit is Vonn Skiwear – a sophisticated
reimagining of her long-standing collaboration with Head.
With about 25 styles, including ski pants, jackets, and sleek
layering pieces, the collection is as much about identity as
design. “I’ve had this line for a while,” she says, “but it’s never
had my name. So, we’re kind of relaunching. I feel like we’ve
elevated everything to match the name, if you will.”
The look – powerful, sexy, polished – has Vonn written all
over it. Sculptural silhouettes in technical fabrics, cool neutrals
offset by alpine whites and couture tones that whisper: Sure, I
ski for fun – but don’t think I don’t mean business, too. “I’m very
specific with my aesthetic,” she says. “How I want to look on
the mountain, and how I want to feel off the mountain. I think
