SKI YOU IN COURT

Ritzy Ski Resort Sues Fashion Brand Over Slope-Invading Influencers

Aspen Skiing Company is accusing a London-based fashion company of attempting to ride its coattails, tricking customers into thinking the brand is affiliated with the resort.

A luxury skiwear brand won’t stop sending its models to do unauthorized photoshoots on the slopes of a Colorado resort—and now the company that owns the resort is fighting back with a federal lawsuit.

Aspen Skiing Company, the owner of Aspen Snowmass known locally as SkiCo, filed suit against the London-based clothing company Perfect Moment last week, claiming that the brand is attempting to appropriate its “world-renowned reputation and goodwill by intentionally and falsely” aligning itself with the resort, its trademarks, and its exclusive mountaintop experience known as Beach Club.

The lawsuit alleges trademark infringement, false association or false endorsement, and unfair competition. It demands a jury trial and punitive damages to be awarded, saying SkiCo has suffered both financial and reputational damages in a battle with Perfect Moment that began back in 2021.

That March, the complaint claims, Perfect Moment began posting photos of social media influencers modeling its clothing on SkiCo’s lifts and slopes. The company, which operates a resort complex comprising four mountains, sent a cease-and-desist letter to London, after which Perfect Moment took “some but not all” of the offending images down.

Tensions apparently abated until this October, when Perfect Moment sent at least one new influencer decked out in its skiwear to the Beach Club experience, where a photographer captured images of them that were posted on the brand’s social media pages. The images were also printed on a new line of Perfect Moment’s jackets and leggings, according to SkiCo.

Another cease-and-desist was sent to little avail. All the while, according to the complaint, Perfect Moments apparel stamped with SkiCo’s trademarks were being sold in retail stores in Aspen, Beaver Creek, and Vail.

“At least one Perfect Moment consumer has worn the Infringing Apparel at the ASC Resorts,” the lawsuit sniffs.

The suit also asks that the court order Perfect Moment destroy the clothing at issue and fork over any profits it made from selling the offending apparel. The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Perfect Moment told prospective investors last month that it would rely largely on social media to reach skiing’s “largely affluent” aficionados, according to Denver outlet BusinessDen, which first reported SkiCo’s lawsuit last week.

“We believe that inspiration and trends have shifted from editorial content on the printed pages of monthly fashion magazines,” the company reportedly said in a presentation, “to the real-time social media channels of the world’s leading fashion bloggers, influencers and celebrities.”

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AJ McDougallBreaking News Reporter

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