Ski suits in office as staff ready for slopes

As winter temperatures get gradually colder, warm, wind-resistant ski suits with nice designs have become "workday outfits" for some office workers.

Yang Hua, a 35-year-old office worker in Beijing, chooses to commute in a pink ski suit. "Facing the dilemma between 'asking for a day off to go skiing' and 'commuting in a black down jacket', I choose to commute in a ski suit to trick myself into work. Ski suits, which are often light-colored, plus leggings and sneakers, perfectly match the scenario of both driving a car and taking a metro to work."

On lifestyle-sharing platform Xiaohongshu, a lot of netizens are sharing pictures and videos of their ski suits as "commuting OOTD (outfit of the day)".

Although office workers on duty cannot rush to the Chongli Ski Resort in Zhangjiakou, Hebei province, to experience powder snow, they can enjoy themselves in ski suits in the office, as if they were already at the ski resort. Wearing ski suits and drinking Americano coffees, office workers are offering themselves emotional value. When it is Friday, they can wear ski suits to the office and rush off to ski resorts right after work, effectively extending their weekends, according to Jiuxing Travel, a market information platform on WeChat.

Wang Peng, an associate research fellow at the Beijing Academy of Social Sciences, said: "Office workers wearing ski suits to work is a demonstration of consumption concepts combined with pragmatism. It is a reconstruction of lifestyle among young people. Ski suits have functions such as being windproof and waterproof, suitable for winter commuting. Their fashionable designs meet urban aesthetics and have become a symbol of 'spiritual off-duty', relieving work pressure through scene simulation."

"In addition, extending the scenario of wearing ski suits from low-frequency sports scenes to high-frequency daily scenes has expanded the life-cycle of individual products, reflecting the rational consumption trend of 'one thing for multiple uses', and is an exploration of efficient resource utilization," he added.

Zhang Changyue, a post-95 beginner ski enthusiast, said that this winter she plans to rush to the ski resort right after work on Fridays. Her ski equipment, including ski suit, helmet, goggles, gloves, kneecaps and hip pad, cost approximately 1,500 yuan ($212), while a training coach costs around 1,500 yuan per day, and ski tickets and accommodation cost her 400 yuan per day.

Jin Ning, a post-85 intermediate ski enthusiast, said that his ski suit and snow board alone cost him around 20,000 yuan.

With the arrival of the ski season, merchants around the nation are launching promotional activities for ski equipment. An outdoor equipment store in Urumqi has launched promotional activities such as a discount of 800 yuan for ski suit orders over 3,000 yuan, and is offering to exchange old ski boards for new ones. Since Nov 14, Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region issued 10,000 ice consumption coupons, further boosting ski tourism and related spending.

According to Liu Mingxin, owner of a ski equipment store in Chongli, product demand for the new snow season far exceeds expectations, with professional snow clothing that combines warmth and fashion as well as lightweight high-performance snow boards being the most popular. In addition to the hot sales in offline stores, convenient services such as online bookings and local deliveries have become new sales growth points. Since the new snow season started, sales of core ski equipment grew over 30 percent on a yearly basis, and that of accessories was even higher.

Yu Fenghui, an independent financial commentator, said: "Under the context of boosting consumption, the key of promoting domestic demand is to raise residents' consumption power and consumption willingness. First, by raising the income level of medium to low-income groups, the income distribution structure should be continuously optimized. Second, support to the service industry, especially newly emerged business modes such as ice sports and cultural tourism, should be enhanced."

zhengyiran@chinadaily.com.cn