SNOW Alps 25-26 web - Flipbook - Page 70
Photo by Melissa Levin
we’ve really made a lot of progress in representing the modern
woman – and combine performance and luxury at the same
time.”
It’s easy to see how the collection mirrors her evolution.
Performance has always been her trademark, of course.
Rocketing down a sheet of ice tickling 80 miles per hour is what
made her famous. But during her hiatus from racing, life beyond
the finish line was hers to imagine. What emerged was a woman
who learned to play as hard as she competes, a public persona
very much Glamorous Woman About Town. The brand she’s
built for herself – cowboy hats and couture gowns, carrying the
Olympic torch in Paris, trackside at Formula 1, courtside at the
U.S. Open – looks, frankly, like a hell of a lot of fun, delivered
with her signature smoky eye and the occasional wink.
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“I built a really amazing life outside of skiing,” she says. “I
got involved in investing, I’m on boards, I built my business. I’m
proud of how far I’ve come outside the sport. It allowed me to
make the decision [to retire] for the right reasons.”
And what reasons were those?
“I’m not a skier,” she says thoughtfully, “but I love skiing.”
Say again?
“My whole life has been defined by skiing – by numbers,
records, how fast I go. When I retired, I really had to reflect:
who am I outside of skiing? I got to a really amazing place, so
I’m not doing this because I need skiing. I’m doing it because I
love skiing.”
“It’s never been a job to me. It’s something I enjoy,” she
continues. “But it’s also important to grow, to understand who
