Looking good is a way of life in Sweden. And for skiers there’s no better place to tap into that sense of style than the central square in the ski resort of Are, Sweden – ringed with clothing shops stocking natty Swedish ski fashion brands. We rolled our sleeves up and got stuck in, as you’ll see from this video.

We got kitted out at Are Skidsport and Stadium Ski – both of them big ski emporia groaning with kit. But there’s one other shop which features on everyone’s ski fashion shopping list, Peak Performance, on the south side of the square. The brand – much fancied by skiers all over Europe – started life in Are, Sweden in 1986, and has a store which looks like it belongs to Ralph Lauren rather than a ski brand. Still, we couldn’t help coveting some of the items there. Other brands we liked included local brand Colour and Sweet Protection – and yes, we know Sweet Protection is Norwegian…

Obviously, the success of Peak Performance has inspired other Swedish designers to try their hand at launching their own ski fashion brands in Are, Sweden, and there are more shops here than you can shake a ski pole at. Anyone with a bad shopping habit should beware!

Many thanks to Neilson for the flights to Are, Sweden. The company runs an extensive holiday programme to the resort with all levels of accommodation included. You can also find lots of news and information about the resort at www.skistar.com/en/Are/.