Custom ski wear

I'm a tall and skinny guy who has a hard time finding fitting clothes. And skiing gear is no exception. Few years ago I started searching for new jacket and pants. They need to fit me, be functional on the slopes and back country, and look good. Black pants won't do. Naturally I didn't find anything; pants were always too wide or too short and jackets have too wide shoulders, short sleeves and a place for the bear belly that I don't have, yet.

So in the end I was about to sew my own clothes. But then I found a tailor: Ateljee Natali.

Natali had made modern kids clothing for some company, so she knows about breathing materials and taping seams. I arranged a meeting with her to draw a sketch, work out the technical details and take my measures while wearing hit pants, back protection, helmet and ski boots.

My 20 or so years on the slopes has brought me enough insight to know what I want in my ski pants and jackets. Natali took notes, and we came up with a design that should match what I need and look good. She even came up with a bunch of fabric choises due to her previous contacts. Great!

Pics by Santtu Kaikkonen and Tuomas Muurinen.

The end result works really well. I can't tell how great it feels to have clothes that fit and work. And they're custom made, no other pair will pop up on the slopes. Or so I hope. And the custom suite came up quite a bit cheaper than any of the major brand outfits. Maybe the fabrics aren't up to some other brands standards and maybe the membrane is not GoreTex approved, but instead I could design ventilation zippers the way I need them.

First test for the suite was a two week powder trip to Japan. Suite worked perfectly in varying conditions, and a few japanese blokes came to me asking what suite I was wearing and what that McFrisk tag meant. I replied that it's me.

Only mishap was a broken thigh ventilation zipper which I had to tape together for a week. The zipper broke when my binding opened on a fakie landing and I tumbled over the ski for a while; ski edge most likely hit the zipper opener and halved it, thanks to my hip protection pants I didn't even feel it. That was quickly fixed back in Finland with a new zipper opener. And the duct tape had a hard time sticking to the fabric, as did wet snow falling all over the Niseko forests.

So, anyone who doesn't fit well into the clothes in the shops or just wants something custom, personal and more colorfull, just contant tailors like Natali. Custom ski wear works!