Looking good on the slopes

Jane Gottschalk with her husband, Max Gottschalk, in Beijing.

Speaking of her role, Lee says: "Why not bring the idea of high fashion to sportswear? This is a totally new vision. I want to create something new, something people haven't done before. Maybe we'll be a trendsetter."

The company has its own skiing team in Chamonix, which specializes in testing the clothes on the slopes before they go into production.

With prices starting at around $300, Perfect Moment is now the best-selling sports brand on high-fashion online retailer Net-A-Porter, says Gottschalk.

Though the brand is sold mainly through online platforms, Gottschalk is considering opening physical stores in the near future.

While the United Kingdom and Switzerland are the biggest markets for the brand now, and sales in the United States are growing, orders from China are just starting this season.

But the Asian market, while more nascent than Europe and the United States, is actually more willing to try new concepts, says Gottschalk.

"They are more experimental than, say, France or Switzerland where people are quite conservative about what they wear on snow. We want to push the boundaries a little bit."

Lee, who's based in Shanghai, has her observations about Chinese customers.

"China is a little bit different. Even if they don't ski, people like to wear the clothes and post pictures of themselves. Looking good is the most important," she says, laughing.

"The lifestyle in China is also changing. The health market is growing. Now they (customers) also care about their bodies more."

Contact the writer at sunyuanqing@chinadaily.com.cn