What could possibly be missing from Aspen, Colorado in the Spring? Apparently the fashion mecca of the ski world didn’t have an official fashion week. Prada, Ralph Lauren and Louis Vuitton have all maintained full stores in Aspen and now they have a spring fashion week to look forward to. For anyone who doesn’t know, Aspen is the posh ski spot that’s more about who you’re wearing and who you are than skiing. If that’s not your scene then don’t go to Aspen; for unpretentious skiing, go to Telluride, Colorado.  

Aspen’s first-ever five day fashion week will launch March 1, 2009. There will be nightly fashion events, instore presentations, and après-ski soirees to glamorize the "Mountain Lifestyle." By winter 2009/2010 the hope is for 15 high-fashion designers to show collections on full-scale runway productions, think Bryan Park glamour but in the Rockies.

Aspen Fashion Week 2009 will be a winter sports-ware forum filled with the ultimate A-list. Considering that the winter sports market is up and coming and took in nearly $3 billion last year it seems relevant. "Winter sports and resorts attract 6 million of the most affluent, influential, and athletic consumers in America, and while more and more leading designers are catering to this A-list group, up until now there have been no flagship fashion events to reflect this trend," said Lisa Johnson, the mastermind behind Aspen Fashion Week and former vice president of the Aspen Chamber Resort Association (ACRA). "With Aspen’s status as the king of ski resorts and winter culture, Aspen Fashion Week is ideally suited to be an important stop on the annual fashion week circuit." The confirmed sponsors worth mentioning are W magazine, Veuve Clicquot, Plum TV, The Sky Hotel, St. Regis Aspen Resort, The Little Nell, Limelight Lodge, and Aspen Peak magazine.

Skeptics that think an Aspen Fashion Week won’t make it in this economy, well, think what you want. Lisa Johnson has publicly mentioned the realities of our economy, the plan is to start small and grow with the power of the Aspen brand. "Aspen likes its events," Johnson says. "And Aspen Fashion Week is one that will never leave and go somewhere else. We have a perfect fusion of fashion, function, mountain lifestyle and winter wear. There’s no place this really works but here." Come on, it even rhymes, Aspen and fashion can’t be wrong.