Aspen Fashion Week Attempts To Change The Face Of The City

The city of Aspen, despite its breath-taking scenery and legendary ski-culture, hasn’t exactly been known as a hotspot destination for the fashion crew. In an effort to change this, PSFK recently was invited by Bentley and Aspen Fashion Week to spend some time taking in a more stylish side of the city, with all of the fetes and features surrounding this unusual event.

Hosted by luxury hotel the St. Regis Aspen, AFW was populated by tastemakers, visiting fashion enthusiasts, and snowbunnies of all shapes, ages, and sizes. Those in attendance were able to see fresh -faced models walk down the runway in winter apparel by Authier, CrOp by David Peck, Duohtavuohta, GRAY Aspen, Marmot, Neve Designs, Pajar Canada, and Roots Canada (among others), and Snow Collections presented by SIA including Dale of Norway, FERA, Helly Hansen, Killy, Krimson Klover, SKEA, and Sport Obermeyer.

Well attended, and with a hint of danger, Bentley kicked off Aspen Fashion Week with extreme athlete (and local resident) Ted Davenport, performing a ‘Winged-B’ sky dive (inspired by Bentley’s iconic ‘winged-B’ emblem) from 3,000 feet above the stage. Adding an extra touch of luxury and branding, Davenport then deployed his Bentley-branded parachute over the runway, landing in nearby Wagner Park before taking a celebratory bow on the runway alongside Bentley Motors Inc’s President & COO, Christophe Georges.

As a sponsor of Aspen Fashion Week, Bentley also rolled out some of their highest-quality, most all-terrain models, allowing visitors to test drive them across roads, a snow course, and even an icy mountaintop (which in less than 5 minutes will put your Honda Accord’s snow capabilities to shame). These six-figure stunners included a 567-hp GT coupe, GTC convertible, the Flying Spur sedan, and the extreme 631-hp Supersports Convertible ISR (Ice Speed Record winner). All (we can happily report), navigated the utterly terrifying wintery conditions with ease.

Lucky invited guests were also able to leave town for the snow-covered grounds of T Lazy 7, a family owned ranch where Bentley Driving instructors, flown in from the UK, drove passengers through a snow blanketed closed course.

In the end, whether you were press, an out-of-towner visiting the slopes, or simply part of the %1, traffic-jamming the city’s airport with your private jet, you could almost smell the luxury and excitement in the air– in no small part thanks to Bentley’s partnership with Aspen Fashion Week and The St. Regis. While Aspen has never had trouble in the past luring tourists to their pristine slope, perhaps (with the help of AFW) they’ll also help attract some of the elusive all- black-clad species known as the “fashion insiders” to the charming snow spot. However, only time will tell.

For those of you who’ve had their interest piqued by all this talk of fast cars and risky stunts, Bentley Motors just revealed a new exploratory short film In Search of Snow featuring world-renowned big-mountain skier and modern day “Bentley Boy,” Chris Davenport. The film premiered this week for a select audience, and

depicts the hometown extreme athlete’s sense of journey, adventure and discovery through Colorado’s famed scenic and winding San Juan Skyway in a Bentley Continental GTC convertible.

Check out the video below to watch Davenport’s story:

Click through the thumbnails below to see more pictures from Aspen Fashion Week: