The Aspen- and New York-based, Italian-made skiwear company Aztech Mountain earned its fashionable cult following by balancing style and purpose. There’s an edge to its high-performance outerwear that’s garners the brand cool streetwear cred, and its gear is coveted on the slopes of Ajax and the streets of Noho alike. Cofounded in 2013 by partners (in both business and marriage) Heifara Rutgers and David Roth, boasting a combined 20 years experience in the luxury apparel industry between them, Aztech has steadily staked its claim as the go-to for sporting wear at the high-end of luxury. To reinforce that reputation, the brand tapped Olympic gold medalist Bode Miller to be the chief innovation officer and Casey Cadwallader to lead design when he’s not busy helming French fashion house Mugler.
Hometown Pride
While Aztech Mountain’s flagship boutique may be a couple thousand miles from the Aztec downhill course run on Ajax for which its named, the brand lives and breathes for all things Aspen—it’s in Rutgers’ blood. His father, a ski instructor who moved to the alpine town in the 1970s, had him on skis by the time he was 2. After moving to New York for college, he found himself straddling two worlds: technical, gear-centric Colorado and high-fashion Manhattan. He began to conceptualize a jacket that he and his husband could wear in both places, and the Aztech Mountain concept was born.
The same mission to blur the lines between style and function remains the brand’s M.O. today. “Our favorite thing is seeing a customer put on one of our jackets and exclaim that it feels like a cloud, because that is exactly the goal,” Rutgers says. That goal extends to Aztech’s new lifestyle line, which includes the double-paneled cashmere Duane Street Cashmere Hoodie ($2,800) that Rutgers says “feels like being in an envelope of exquisite comfort.”
Electrifying Style
The signature prints in the latest line were designed in collaboration with London-based artist Ed Curtis. “We wanted it to be wildly fun, and represent that uninhibited freedom and joy that skiing brings us,” Rutger says. The line debuted last September, and the designs for next season’s drop are well underway. Expect to see ’80s fluorescents (especially orange), high-waisted women’s pants, and more men’s and unisex pieces in cashmere.
