âA girl can look sexier in ski clothes than in a bathing suit,â pronounced Fred Picard, the self-styled âinternational authority on glamour in the snowâ, in 1957. Picard was a Swiss designer who moved to the US to open his own ski clothing store in Sun Valley, Idaho â the favoured schussing spot of Clark Gable, Ingrid Bergman and Norma Shearer. A master salesman, he sold skiwear to the US Olympics womenâs ski team and Nordic sweaters to âtanned and shapely young women and well-muscled college menâ, according to the
New York Times. It was not unusual for him to say things like: âA beautiful girl is never more radiant than when her cheeks are glowing and her eyes sparkling from healthful outdoor exercise at 10 below.â