Smartwool formed a new partnership with World Cup champion alpine skier Mikaela Shiffrin. Shiffrin signed a three-year contract to exclusively wear Smartwool socks as she races on the World Cup circuit.
Shiffrin is the winningest skier in US history, a two-time Olympic gold medalist and the current two-time reigning Overall World Cup champion. She has won 54 World Cup races, including 37 World Cup slalom wins. She is the first skier, male or female, to win all six ski racing disciplines: slalom, giant slalom, downhill, super-G, combined, and the most recently added, parallel slalom. She’s predicted to win more races and more championships than any other skier in history. And, Mikaela is just getting started.
“Mikaela is crushing what is possible in ski racing and to do so she demands the most innovative, high performing equipment available. This includes socks that are the critical interface between her feet, boots and her skis,” said Scott Bowers, Smartwool vice president of marketing and sales “She is an incredible athlete with a great future ahead. We could not be more proud to welcome her to the Smartwool family. As athletes demand the very best in their equipment selection Smartwool is thrilled at the opportunity to develop a ski sock with technical benefits specific to Mikaela’s requirements.”
Mikaela will collaborate with the Smartwool product development team to create Mikaela Shiffrin exclusive socks to add to the company’s PhD Pro performance sock category. The PhD® Pro Mikaela edition will be available this fall for the 2019-20 ski racing season.
“I’m already in love with Smartwool® socks and have been wearing them for years,” said Shiffrin. “Socks are a core component of my racing gear. High performance socks make my high performance ski boots fit perfectly. Now, I’m excited to co-develop my own Smartwool® PhD® Pro ski sock.”
This partnership deepens Smartwool’s relationship with the U.S. Ski Team, which it has sponsored for nearly two decades. Shiffrin joins Smartwool’s team of elite athletes. These partnerships are a component of Smartwool’s larger strategic goal to align itself with the best athletes in the world and to work with them to develop highly technical clothing from natural performance fibers.
