Maria Bogner
Maria Bogner was a German fashion designer credited with developing practical stretch pants, thereby profoundly affecting the direction of the ski fashion industry. She created colorful, sexy, and functional stretchy skiwear. Her husband's established ski apparel company, the development of stretch material in the 1950s, and her sewing skills all contributed to her success. Her stretch pants, as modeled by leading ski athletes of the period, provided aerodynamic, form-fitting cut, color variety and practicality as ski garments.
Personal life
Bogner was born Maria Lux in 1914 in Cologne and died on 17 November 2002 in Tegernsee. In 1937 she married Wilhelm Bogner (Willy Sr.), a German Nordic combined ski champion who competed in the 1930s. Together, they had three children, Rosemarie, Michael, and Wilhelm (Willy Jr.). Willy Bogner's success as a skier allowed him and his future wife, then Maria Lux, to establish a clothing line in 1932, that included outfitting the German national ski team at the 1936 Winter Olympics.Her husband died in 1977 and she died in 2002.
Career
Pre-WWII
Skiing Magazine called Bogner, “the mother of modern ski fashion”, citing her outsized influence as a woman on ski culture. Her career began with the development of novel ski garments in the early 1930s and was interrupted by World War II.In 1936 Bogner created an anorak for the German Olympic ski team of which her fiancé was a member. After their marriage, Bogner became involved in the fashion side of her husband's business, which included importing ski equipment. In addition to ski apparel, they designed and manufactured blouses, traditional Bavarian dresses, as well as hiking apparel. The growth of their business was interrupted by WWII and her husband's internment by the US.
Post-WWII
After the war her ski fashion innovations in style and color, especially with stretch pants, allowed the Bogner business to flourish in the upscale ski apparel market.While her husband was away and in order to support her three children, Bogner continued to design colorful anoraks that were sold by the thousands. In addition to creating and selling parkas, Bogner also began rebuilding the business by creating other products, such as aprons. In 1950, the Bogners began exporting their colorful products to the US, including Bogner's parkas. In 1955 Bogner began branding the company with a logo, styled as a “B”, on all zippers found on their clothing.