MILAN – With the ski season having officially begun earlier this month in the Alps, luxury and fashion brands and retailers are embracing the winter spirit and flocking to the mountains to court wealthy customers during their getaways.
As the Winter Olympics in Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo are fast approaching, the latter, dubbed the “Queen of the Dolomites,” is emerging as the go-to destination.
Prada has just opened its first boutique in town on the shopping street Corso Italia, a 2,152-square-foot, three-story space complete with a small terrace on the second floor overlooking the Dolomites. The store, featuring natural stone flooring and decked in larch wood, carries the men’s and women’s collections.
The Prada boutique in Cortina d’Ampezzo.
Courtesy of Prada
Down the same street, Cortina’s storied luxury multibrand boutique Franz Kraler has undergone a major revamp with help from Italian architecture firm Raumwerk. It created an immersive experience defined by multiple spaces with distinctive aesthetics, with the frosty landscape-inspired entrance segueing into the main retail area decked in metallic walls with an industrial bent.
In celebration of the Winter Olympics, kicking off on Feb. 6, the windows are filled with miniature winter wonderlands with slopes, cable cars and icy tunnels.
The revamped Franz Kraler boutique on Cortina d’Ampezzo’s Corso Italia.
Curtesy of Franz Kraler
As reported, the Kraler family has also been at the forefront of hospitality and has opened the state-of-the-art Chalet Franz Kraler-Club Moritzino at the Socrepes location, where the Ria De Saco ski-slope lodge once stood. The latter was an earlier Franz Kraler hospitality project that opened in 2022.
Unveiled earlier this month, the chalet is managed in partnership with Club Moritzino, a popular après-ski spot in Piz La Ila, Italy, a ski resort in the Dolomites’ Alta Badia region.
Developed by the BlueArch design studio, the new chalet spans three floors, two of which are underground to minimize the environmental impact and decked in dark larch wood and glass panels mirroring the sky and snow-dotted slopes.
The ground floor houses a restaurant, which boasts a terrace overlooking the slopes, equipped with a bar counter. A 430-square-foot wine cellar suspended over the main hall will be dedicated to wine tastings and private events.
Inside the Chalet Franz Kraler-Club Moritzino in Cortina d’Ampezzo.
Curtesy of Franz Kraler
A hairpin turn away, Harmont & Blaine is back in Cortina d’Ampezzo with its sophomore takeover of the Chalet Tofane ski lodge.
The Italian brand has customized furniture and decor with its signature dachshund logo scattered throughout in the form of wooden sculptures and graphic upholstery and wallpapers.
Marking the second iteration of the three-year partnership with Chalet Tofane and the opening of a Harmont & Blaine pop-up at the local shopping center “La Cooperativa di Cortina,” the brand has debuted the dedicated mountain-inspired capsule collection “Cortina a Colori,” or “Cortina in Colors” in English. It’s filled with casual and leisure apparel and accessories such as Fair Isle sweaters, checkered overshirts and corduroy pants.
Harmont & Blaine’s takeover of Chalet Tofane in Cortina d’Ampezzo.
The Winter Olympics are shining an even bright spotlight on the tony Italian winter resort destination.
Anticipating a stronger influx of international tourists, a new luxury concierge service has been launched by ski instructor and restaurant entrepreneur Lorenzo Pignata along with Carolina Pignata, an event entrepreneur, and wellness expert Manfredi Reale. Called The Cortina Club, it will offer services ranging from ski and snowboard lessons, visits to private art collections, chalet rental and Michelin-starred dinners on the slopes to helicopter rides and private parties at exclusive locations.
This month luxury publishing house Assouline has released a new coffee-table book as part of its destination series, titled “Cortina d’Ampezzo.” Curated by Milan-based journalist Massimo Nava, it highlights the mountaintop city’s natural landscape, architecture, glamorous present, and history.
“Cortina d’Ampezzo” a new Assouline book on the Italian ski resort.
Courtesy of Assouline
Cortina d’Ampezzo has been home to the Winter Olympics once before, in 1956, and in celebration of the milestone, Lacoste, the official licensee of the International Olympic Committee, has dropped a capsule collection called “Lacoste x Olympic Heritage Cortina d’Ampezzo 1956.” The collection reprises the 1956 Games’ original blue logo appearing on a range of urban and après-ski gear, such as merino wool sweaters and vintage-inspired puffer jackets as well tracksuits and soft accessories.
The Lacoste x Olympic Heritage Cortina d’Ampezzo 1956 capsule collection.
Courtesy of Lacoste
Although the Italian destination is taking the lion’s share of brand attention this year, some companies are looking at other European winter resorts.
For example, Pierre-Louis Mascia has traveled to Gstaad, Switzerland, opening its first boutique in the town, a 753-square-foot unit decked in maple wood and filled with vintage finds and objects nodding to the mountain destination, such as bronze horns, armchairs upholstered in cashmere and Baroque dressers.
The Pierre-Louis Mascià boutique in Gstaad, Switzerland.
Courtesy of Pierre-Louis Mascià
Meanwhile, Courmayeur — an Italian destination beloved by the Milanese in search of winter getaways at the feet of Mont Blanc, the highest mountain in the Alps and Western Europe, whose tunnel has been recently reopened — is gearing up for the 2026 edition of “Design Weekend,” running Feb. 12 to 15 as the Winter Games are unfurling on the opposite side of the Italian Alps. The event will draw archistar Marcel Wanders for a talk organized at the “Skyway Mont Blanc” venue.
The church of Solda photographed by Stefano Scatà and featured in “Cortina d’Ampezzo” a new Assouline book on the Italian ski resort.
Stefano Scatà/Courtesy of Assouline
