Klaus Obermeyer: father of the down jacket.

• Author: Caley, Nora
• Position: Executive edge

KLAUS OBERMEYER GOT THE IDEA FOR his clothing company, Sport Obermeyer, when he worked as a ski instructor in Aspen in 1949. At first he was just trying to come up with a way to stop losing ski students.

"People skied in dress shirts and long city overcoats and they were just really cold," says Obermeyer, who is from Germany. Customers could barely endure the 15-minute chairlift ride, much less skiing in a wool coat.

"They came for two-week vacations, but would leave after three days," he said.

Even then, Obermeyer was resourceful. He'd spent the previous winter selling Bavarian neckties from the back of film producer Warren Miller's truck. Obermeyer cut up his down comforter and made a parka out of it. He took the prototype to Munich, where a friend owned a bedding factory. Obermeyer asked him to make down parkas.

"He said, 'You're nuts," Obermeyer says. "So I bought him a few beers. Finally he said, 'OK, if you get me the zippers and the knitted cuffs for sleeves, I'll make 75 of them.'" Even at $175--hefty for postwar America--the coats sold out quickly.

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The budding entrepreneur then hired 17 seamstresses in Aspen to make more coats. Eventually the manufacturing moved offshore, but today Obermeyer, the company, employs 45 people in Aspen and 25 to 35 (depending on the season) in Denver. The company makes winter wear for men, women and children. Today's clothing lines have names like Mach 1 and Ridgeline. The company also takes credit for introducing American skiers to the turtleneck sweater, the dual construction ski boot and mirrored sunglasses.

Obermeyer, the person, is now 85 years old.

Bill Post has taken over as company...