Austrian beauty and fashion companies are not very active in sponsoring; especially when it comes to sports. Not only that Austria has few producers of beauty and fashion goods, sport is in such companies additionally an 'under-developed' sponsor area. This is aggravated by the fact that advertising is in Austria not a taboo, but as advertising is even not for several media like TV or news papers the most important income (the government spends a lot of tax money to selected media), seriously campaigning or advertising as (visibly marked) business is negatively attributed - even though it is the fairest (as the user knows who pays and whose interest stands behind each ad) way of financing independent media, art, culture activities, or sports.

But there are exceptions; such as seen in mid-April 2013 at the cooperation between alpine skiers and the beauty line 'Princess skincare' (distributed via apothecaries) by the globally active in Austria headquartered company Croma-Pharma. The new international face of 'Princess skincare' is Hubertus von Hohenlohe. He is aristocrat (Prince), cosmopolite (with roots in Austria), photographer (to mention here his 'Mirror Images' which show himself in mirrors or mirroring surfaces on locations worldwide) and alpine skier (with 51 years! he represented Mexico at the Winter Olympics 2010).

End note: Perhaps this article will be read by responsible marketing people of Austrian fashion labels and initiate or support ideas about the Olympic Games in Sochi (Winter, 2014) and Rio de Janeiro (Summer, 2016) for chic and contemporary dressings with incorporated Austrian heritage in modern interpretation. Clothes that fit and look great! (At least, the sport-fashion items should be better than last year in London where the athletes looked in their costumes and suits 40 years older; just like retired sportswomen and men in their 60ies.) 'Team working with the athletes' is one of the trend guiding keyword phrases for the upcoming games; the Swedish national team and H&M have already started their collaboration. I know that Austria has athletes who are very interested in design, knit-fabric and wool manufacturies, products which are valued and used even by international couture labels, and that the country still has some shoe companies...

fig. from left: Cosmopolite, photographer and Olympic alpine skier Prince Hubertus von Hohenlohe is the new face of Princess skincare from the aesthetical line by the globally active pharmaceutical and surgical company Croma-Pharma (headquarters in Austria). Right: US World Cup alpine ski athlete Resi Stiegler represented Princess skincare during the Ski World Cup in Schladming, Austria. Seen in April 2013. Photo: (C) Croma-Pharma.




more beautyme>