Legacy can be both a gift and a burden. For heritage outdoor brands, the pressure to stay relevant has never been greater. Amid accelerating climate change, digital disruption, and shifting consumer values, Obermeyer is redefining longevity – not by abandoning its heritage, but by thoughtfully evolving its core without compromise.

Now under the leadership of CEO, Kris Kuster, formerly of Mammut Sports, the longtime alpine brand is entering a new era grounded in reality and defined by humility, speed, and sustainability. Kuster is not trying to rebrand Obermeyer from the ground up. Instead, he’s building from the foundation laid by founder Klaus Obermeyer — who, at 105 years old, remains active as Chairman of the Board.

“You can never fill a legend’s shoes,” Kuster says. “You have to pave your own way, while protecting what made the brand matter in the first place.”

Rooted in Aspen, Built for the Mountains

In an industry where headquarters have moved to city centers and brands sell dreams of the outdoors from office towers, Obermeyer remains firmly rooted where it began: Aspen. That decision isn’t nostalgic, it’s strategic. For Kuster, Obermeyer’s physical proximity to the mountains is an extension of its purpose.

“We’re Aspen born, Aspen lived, and Aspen worked. We are Aspen,” he says, pointing to how Klaus Obermeyer helped shape the town’s spirit as an innovator and civic force. That legacy — grounded in mountain values and lived experience — is now being revived for a new generation of outdoor enthusiasts.

Aspen itself has changed. “I thought winter was our high season,” Kuster notes, “but now Aspen in the summer goes off even more. It’s insane — busy traffic, packed hotels, people coming for the lifestyle, not just the skiing.” In response, the brand is expanding beyond its winter identity, without compromising its roots. “We’re still a ski brand in a ski resort,” Kuster says. “But it’s time to fully embrace the year-round mountain lifestyle — and Aspen gives us the blueprint.”

A Commitment to Women Long Before It Was Fashionable

While many competitors are only now working to earn credibility with female consumers, Obermeyer has long been ahead of the curve. Women have always been central to its product line, voice, and growth — a fact that’s not widely known, but deeply embedded in the brand’s DNA.

“I didn’t realize just how deep it ran until I dug into the numbers,” says Kuster. “We’ve always been 60 to 70 percent a women’s brand. Add in kids, and it’s even higher. We’ve never had to pivot to women — we’ve been serving them from the beginning.”

That foundation is now being strengthened. “Seventy-five percent of discretionary spending is made by women,” Kuster notes. “So why wouldn’t we go even deeper?” Rather than market to women, Obermeyer is building with them — designing fit-first products, creating more inclusive storytelling, and building out its digital experience for the people who already define its brand.

“It’s not a campaign,” he adds. “It’s a commitment.”

Sustainability Grounded in Truth

While sustainability has become a marketing ploy for many brands, Kuster believes the outdoor industry needs a recalibration: less posturing, more transparency.

“We’re not the most sustainable brand yet,” he admits, “but we make insanely good quality at a very affordable price. And that’s sustainability too.”

For Kuster, longevity is the untold sustainability story and perhaps the most powerful one. “The most sustainable product is the one that lasts the longest,” he says. “If your jacket lasts ten years and gets passed down to your kid’s kid, that’s circularity. That’s impact.”

Obermeyer’s sustainability approach centers on durability, resale, and accessibility. The company is developing buy-back programs for kids’ gear, a crucial offering in a sport known for its expense and exclusivity. “We know a five-year-old is going to need a new jacket next year,” he explains. “So we take the old one back, and offer 30% off the new. It’s better for the family, better for the planet, and it keeps people in the sport.”

Kuster also challenges the illusion of “perfectly sustainable” apparel. “You see a lot of campaigns,” he says. “But at the end of the day, recycled nylon is still oil-based. We can’t lie to ourselves or our customers. Let’s build the best possible gear, make it last, and improve where we can – without pretending we’ve solved it all.”

That realism isn’t an excuse. It’s a strategy rooted in truth, durability, and continuous improvement.

Culture As Competitive Edge

With all the talk of digital transformation and margin pressure, Kuster is clear: culture is the engine. “As they say, ‘Culture eats strategy for breakfast,’” he says. “You can have the best playbook in the world, but if your people aren’t bought in, it goes nowhere.”

At Obermeyer, that belief is reflected in everything from internal development to community co-creation. When Kuster met a 14-year-old aspiring designer during a chance encounter, he invited her to spend the afternoon with the brand’s creative team. What was meant to be a quick tour turned into a two-hour session and may soon become a youth-led capsule collection.

“She showed up with these unbelievable sketches,” Kuster recalls. “Our whole team was floored. It wasn’t just cute, it was visionary. So now we’re looking at a Project Runway-style initiative where kids design for kids. Because that’s culture too.”

This sense of openness – to ideas, people, energy – is helping reestablish Obermeyer not just as a gear brand, but as a values-driven platform rooted in purpose.

Earning Trust in a D2C World

Legacy brands built on wholesale are now playing catch-up in a consumer-led world. Obermeyer is no exception. The company only began investing in direct-to-consumer three years ago and Kuster is the first to acknowledge they’re late.

“But we’re moving fast,” he says. “We’re investing in our site, our content, and our storytelling because the consumer expects to connect directly now. The retailer is no longer the destination. It’s the vessel.”

What’s filling that vessel is shifting, too. “People say influencer marketing is new,” Kuster notes. “It’s just digital word-of-mouth. And word-of-mouth has always been the most powerful force in marketing.” This consumer-first mindset is reframing everything from brand communications to ambassador strategy, reinforcing the idea that storytelling isn’t just about what’s said, but who says it.

Redefining Success — Without Losing Sight of Profit

When asked how his measure of success, Kuster doesn’t default to revenue targets or EBITDA multiples. Instead, he returns to something far less common in a performance-wear boardroom: legacy.

“If I can look back in 20 years and say we kept Klaus and Annamie’s dream alive – that we helped more people get outside, live healthier, stay humble – that’s success,” he says. “Whether it’s $10 million or $100 million, that part is priceless.”

That doesn’t mean financial results don’t matter. But they follow culture, not the other way around. “I’ve seen it again and again,” he says. “When the culture is strong, the numbers come. When it’s weak, you can chase growth all you want, it won’t stick.”

His final call is one for mindful urgency: act quickly, but act with intention. “Speed will be the decisive factor in the future,” Kuster explains. “But not sloppy speed. In the military, we used to say, ‘Slow is smooth, and smooth is fast.’ That’s how I lead. That’s how we build.”

Legacy, Made Relevant

In a world of green claims, digital noise, and brand reinvention, Obermeyer offers a different kind of blueprint: one rooted in place, integrity, and deeply human values.

It’s not the loudest brand. But it just might be one of the most honest – and in this new sustainability era, that’s what resilience looks like. “We don’t need to be everything to everyone,” Kuster says. “We just need to be exactly who we are and do it really, really well.”