On 31 October 1923, Mario Colombo, together with his wife Irma, founded Manifattura Mario Colombo & C. The company initially produced felt hats and gaiters, then moved onto work clothes. The brand name, Colmar, came up almost for fun: one afternoon, Mario was chatting with some friends and scribbling a few names on a pack of cigarettes, until they realized that all they needed was to combine the initials of his surname and his first name. It was done: Colmar. Meanwhile, in the snow-capped mountains, small groups of pioneers performed with improvised equipment: they called them skiers, written with a ‘k’ also in Italian (the correct word in Italian is with a “c”). Colmar’s durable work overalls were perfect for them.

These were difficult years for our country, the international situation was extremely complicated and making business was a path full of obstacles. Colmar carried on creating garments that were used for skiing, alongside work clothes: they were pieces in pure decatized cotton, treated with chemical agents to make it resistant to washing and unshrinkable. We were at a turning point, because that fabric was extremely durable and perfectly suitable for sporting purposes. Colmar worked together with Leo Gasperl, ski pioneer and holder of the flying kilometer speed record. For him, the company produced Thirring, under license, i.e. a cape that, inflating on the back, resembled a bat, and that was exactly how it would be called by everyone. That was the way Colmar arrived at the snow: by skiing, almost flying.

After the premature passing away of the founder Mario, his wife Irma and their sons Giancarlo and Angelo carried on managing Colmar with passion and determination. The hard years around the Second World War ended when Colmar won the contract for the production of the Saharan jackets for the French Foreign Legion. In many houses in Monza, the sewing machines rattled constantly to help the company cover the big demand. Furthermore, it came the orders for suits commissioned by some oil companies that were opening petrol stations throughout Italy. In the same period, Colmar began a long professional relationship with the Italian Winter Sports Federation (FISI), with Pool Italia, i.e. the group of companies supplying the team, that would last until 1992. More and more, snow was representing Colmar’s natural habitat, as well as an opportunity to consolidate strong relationships with the great champions of the time, as Zeno Colò. How to satisfy his request for an increasingly high-performance and tight-fitting technical garment, capable of a minimal friction with the air? Irma had the intuition to use the filanca, i.e. an extremely elastic fabric typically used for women’s corsets. She had it inserted along the hips, and so she created the famous “Colò sheath”, a jacket that would remain in the collection until the 1970s.

Zeno Colò wore the “Colò sheath” and dominated the downhill race at Oslo Olympics in 1952, putting Colmar under the spotlight and making it a universally recognized brand by sky lovers. Thanks to the work of Giancarlo and Angelo, Manifattura Mario Colombo & C. became the Italian distributor of very important foreign brands. In 1956, Giancarlo had the chance to meet Kenjiro Mizuno, a Japanese entrepreneur who entrusted him with the distribution of his products on the Italian market. Collaborations were also born with Elan, Adidas and Lacoste, just to name a few. Colmar, besides growing in Italy, also began to export abroad.

The connection with skiing was deep, the research for the best technical solutions continued, and Colmar developed increasingly high-performance products, designed for skiers. They were significantly growing in number: thanks also to the Italian economic miracle, Italians who spent their holidays on the snow were more and more, spreading a new lifestyle that brought many people to the slopes and snow resorts. The love for skiing led to a consistent research to enhance high-performance products for skiers, such as Supercolmar and Thermospeed, a close-fitting and snug fabric coupled with a layer of polyurethane foam. Precisely with a special Colmar suit, in 1964, in Cervinia, Luigi Di Marco beat the speed record in the flying kilometre, reaching 175 kilometers per hour.

Inside, there were duvets, over-trousers, together with a new garment, created with also elastic satin, as the one used for wedding gloves. It was anti-friction and waterproof leggings with side bands.

And they won more and more. Valanga Azzurra (Blue Avalanche) marked an era: win after win, all with Colmar covering them. Skiing became a national sport, thanks to champions such as: Gustav and Roland Thoeni, Piero Gros, Paolo De Chiesa, Helmut Schmalzl, Fausto Radici, Herbert Plank, Erwin Stricker, and Tino Pietrogiovanna. Fiat, Moto Guzzi, Politecnico of Milan, and Colmar: what did they have in common? Research and development. Colmar made leaps forward by collaborating with these organizations, which were so important in our country. They improved the products in wind tunnels, and the fabrics were tested more rigorously. Garments with excellent technical features were created, which allowed the champions who wore them to cut off precious hundredths of a second in international competitions. These were garments that also reinterpreted contemporary aesthetics, e.g. the giant slalom suit, which was renamed “la ceffa” (the “smasher”) by Stricker, to emphasize the boldness of its lines. In these years, the famous claim “IN CASE OF SNOW, COLMAR” was issued, inspired by the road sign warning drivers to put chains on their car’s wheels, in case of snow.

In 1985, the World Championship was held in Bormio, and Colmar not only played a role as main sponsor, but created a jacket for the event: it was the Bormio, a multitasking jacket that could be worn in 5 different ways. At that time, there was a TV device in every Italian home already, and Colmar understood the media importance that its presence on the athletes’ tracksuits and on the ski slopes could have. To fully took these opportunity, and maximize its visibility, the company logo was completely redesigned: no longer the red stamp, but a stylized snowflake instead, followed horizontally by the word Colmar.

Skiing shone again with the exuberant talent of Alberto Tomba, Deborah Compagnoni, Manuela Di Centa. Winning and so much loved athletes, they brought our country back to the Olympus of international competitions. Even though the relationship with FISI – Italian Winter Sports Federation, which started way back in 1948, ended in 1992, Colmar brand was always present in the World Cup Classics, an exceptional showcase for the all fans of the White Circus. The company’s vocation to stay ahead of times with innovative materials and technical solutions continued: new microfibres, carbon or steel yarns, stain-resistant finishes, waterproof and breathable fabrics, smart fabrics absorbing heat and returning it when needed. Colmar flagship stores started to be opened worldwide: first in France, in the exclusive Megève, followed over the years by Milan, Paris, Rome, and others in the most famous ski resorts such as: Cortina, Courmayeur, Kitzbuehel, Chamonix, just to name a few of them.

Champions of the caliber of Costantino Rocca and Edoardo Molinari, both Ryder Cup players, wore Colmar and collaborated to create technical garments, perfectly suited for the 18 holes. In the meantime, the love for snow was continuing to grow: Colmar dressed the national teams of Great Britain and Croatia, with their top athletes Chemmy Alcott and the very strong Ivica Kostelić. In 2009, the Colmar Originals line was born. The vintage logo, used until 1985, characterized a garment that reinterpreted Colmar style in a modern key: the sporty down jacket, a lifestyle product that immediately charmed the public.

The decade began with Ivica Kostelic who in 2011, wearing Colmar, triumphed in the World Cup, winning the Overall World Cup, the Specialty Slalom and Combined Cups, as well as a medal at the World Championships in Garmisch-Partenkirchen. After 10 years, it was the turn of the French champion Alexis Pinturault to win the Overall World Cup. The sponsorship of the FSS – Federation Francais de Ski – started in 2012, with Colmar’s collaboration with talented people as Alexis Pinturault, Tessa Worley, JB Grange, Julien Lizeroux, Victor Muffat Jande, Noel. Meanwhile, in the lifestyle sector, in few years Colmar Originals line achieved an extraordinary success. The iconic down jackets were joined by sweatshirts, sweaters and other products to create a proper total look. In parallel, like the other flap of a zip, collaborations began with world-famous artists, designers and stylists, as Au Jour le Jour, Shayne Oliver, White Mountaineering.

Colmar continues its path of experimentation, innovation, research, creativity, and style. Sport and lifestyle. Competition and fashion. Always more technical and high-performance fabrics, important collaborations with technological organizations and internationally well-known designers. Colmar is an enterprise led by the third generation, with the fourth one already working within the company, proudly family-run and, as it has been since the beginning, always strongly connected to Monza, to its territory, and to the healthy principles that Sport conveys. With the awareness that to remain true to yourself, you have always to renew, and to embrace new ideas, without ever forgetting your roots.