Joshua Vides designs trompe l'oeil fashion collection for Colmar's centenary
Promotion: Colmar has commissioned Guatemalan-Amercian artist Joshua Vides to reimagine best-selling pieces from the skiing brand's archive to celebrate its 100th anniversary.
The Colmar 100 capsule collection includes ten different pieces, spanning fashion and accessories, which Vides has imbued with playful trompe l'oeil graphics.
Among the pieces is a cashmere and wool jumper, designed to resemble the Ceffa jackets famously worn by Italy's national alpine ski team in the 1970s, complete with a ski race bib.
Vides finished two padded unisex ski jackets with his hallmark black brushstrokes to emphasize their construction – including quilts and pockets –and in one case painting on a fake lapel.
A reversible puffer vest follows the same theme, finished in black on one side and white on the other.
There is also a scarf, cotton trousers, a sweatshirt, two hats emblazoned with trompe l'oeil ski goggles and a T-shirt with a graphic of five huge fold medals hanging around the neck, referencing a historic photo of Croatian ski champion Ivica Kostelic.
"I usually start collaborations without a specific idea in mind," the artist explained. "I give myself the freedom to react to the stimuli of the moment and create the concept on the spot."
"In this particular case, I thought about what an artist has in common with an athlete: the idea of constant creativity in finding solutions, the best possible ones, to react to failure. The satisfaction of winning after failing several times, of standing on a podium and getting back up after a defeat."
Established in 1923, Colmar is known as one of the pioneers in developing high-performance ski race clothing, known for kitting out various national teams starting with the Italian ski team at the 1952 Olympics.
To learn more about the brand, visit its website.
Partnership content
This article was written by Dezeen as part of a partnership with Colmar. Find out more about Dezeen partnership content here.