Talk about “mountain pose.”
Outdoor fashion brand Krimson Klover continues to transform ski runs into runways with its Artist Series of illustrated base layer tops. The women-owned brand has extended its collaboration with Danish-based artist Mads Berg, shifting the palette from its current vintage postcard-themed images to energetic graffiti-inspired prints for 2025.
“I’m a designer and a creative myself, so I am really inspired by amazing artists,” said Rhonda Swenson, founder and creative director of Krimson Klover. “We’ve been doing the Artist Series since 2012, but we just had one artist who did our base layers. To reinvent and evolve, I started seeking out artists from around the world.”
While searching Pinterest and the internet, Swenson discovered Mads Berg’s art and was “so blown away” she had to track him down. And unlike other artists who start with colorful designs painted directly onto canvas for Krimson Klover consideration, Berg uses elaborate black-and-white pencil sketches as a jumping off point for the finished product. “We’ve actually started taking those sketches and screen printing them on merino wool, as well as sublimating them on recycled poly base layer pieces,” Swenson said. “They’re so amazing in their own right.”
Traditionally urban graffiti hits the ski slopes on base layers and jacket linings.
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Krimson Klover’s fall 2025’s colorful art theme was inspired by the team’s annual design inspiration trip to London. “I fell in love with graffiti artist Mr. Brainwash [Thierry Guetta]. He had his art on huge buildings with such happy, forward-thinking sayings, like ‘Art Is Everything’ and ‘Life Is Beautiful.’ We were really inspired by the positive messaging,” Swenson said. She was so pleased how Berg channeled that energy into Pop Art, his designs are now on Krimson Klover’s jacket linings as well as the base layers.
While fashionable base layers might not always see the light of day on a frigid ski slope — at least not until the après-ski lodge — the wearer knows they’re there. “It feels so good on your skin too. Plus, once those hundreds of layers come off, you have this amazing base layer on,” said Swenson, who is already looking to the next season’s theme.
“As a woman-owned company with a focus on empowering women and girls, our overarching theme for fall 2026 is ‘Color Outside the Lines,’” she said. “How do we encourage young girls to have a voice and the courage to speak up? I can’t wait to see what Mads comes up with.”
