Hubertus Von Hohenlohe On Olympic Fashion, Karl Lagerfeld And Art

While the Olympics kicks off in Paris this week—the fashion capital—all eyes are on the uniforms. However, there is one sportsman who helped change the face of ski uniforms a decade ago.

Mexico-born German prince Hubertus Von Hohenlohe has been a six-time alpine skier at the Olympics, competing for Mexico (he is the son of Prince Alfonso of Hohenlohe-Langenburg and Princess Ira von Fürstenberg).

Looking back on his Olympic career, Hohenlohe feels privileged to have kept up—he just retired from competitive skiing at age 64, last year, after his 20th world championship.

But it was also, in a way, art. “I think that my kind of Olympic career was sort of artistic, it was like an art installation,” said Von Hohenlohe. “I designed my own clothes and uniforms, and I wanted a story to tell, so the public eye would be interested.”

At the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympic Games, he wore a ski uniform co-created with Kappa—in the style of a Mexican Mariachi outfit. “It was a simple marketing idea, and I captured Mexican hearts by wearing that,” he said. “It came about when I went to the CEO of Kappa and said, ‘why don’t we make an outfit that would make everybody cheer me?’”

From there, he helped Kappa build their ski department, designing outerwear, and is now helping them design sports uniforms for the forthcoming Olympic games, Milano Cortina 2026, which is currently under wraps.

“I think people have realized you can have fun with sports uniforms, while keeping it functional,” said Von Hohenlohe. “Most sports uniforms are very well done, but they need to have some authenticity.”

Von Hohenlohe is more than a skier, he counts himself as a designer, a pop artist and a photographer.

His new work is being shown at the Aspen Art Fair, which runs from July 29 to August 2 at the Hotel Jerome. The fair will feature 30 exhibitors and projects from 12 countries for Aspen Art Week, and he is showing in a booth alongside artists Joan Miro, Wifredo Lam, Marjorie Strider and Roberto Matta, with Galerie Gmurzynska.

Curated by Isabelle Bscher, his new photographs continue his relationship between image, photographer and reflection between the two. Von Hohenlohe’s latest photos incorporate fashion editorials and film advertisements found on the streets of Mexico and Spain, and include his own face reflected in them.

“I do a lot of portraits, and a lot of kinds of situations of people where I feel like I’m my own paparazzo,” he said.

His first mirror selfie photos started in 2001, on the brink of the social media era. He stood in a bathroom with his mother and a hairdresser, as they got ready to go for dinner with then-Prince Charles. “From there, I thought, this tells such a true and deep story about our family and life, so I said, ‘if I go on doing this, I’d probably get to some deep truth,’ and that’s how I then started doing these pictures,” said Von Hohenlohe.

His favorite shooting buddy was Karl Lagerfeld, who was a good friend. “He was so quick, snippy, and witty. He had a big heart, he was so professional, and he never slept,” said Von Hohenlohe. “I have no idea how he did everything. He was always telling stories. He was a lovable guy, and he always spoke German with me, because nobody speaks German in Paris, and he loved the idea that nobody could understand what we said.”

One of his photos include Lagerfeld (shot from behind, displaying his famous ponytail) alongside his mother. The photo is called “Fashion Victims.”

“I have all these beautiful photographs that nobody really knows about,” said Von Hohenlohe. “I’m this kind of urban storyteller. I want to tell the story of the times that we live by including myself, and the story is real, I’m kind of the director and the actor at the same time, that was the idea.”

His favorite streets to shoot on include Barcelona, Paris, downtown Manhattan and Madrid.

One of the new pieces is called “World Olympics” and features his Mariachi ski outfit, as well as Olympic pins and slopes. “I hope people find many things in my art, so you get a vibe, a feeling that these are the times that we live in,” said Von Hohenlohe. “That is what art should be about.”

The series also includes pieces that include fashion editorials, including a photo of Bridget Bardot on the cover of Elle magazine in 1967. “I took this photo in Madrid, I liked the idea that I was offering just this one flower,” he said.

“Bridget Bardot was very good friends with my father, and I met her a couple of times. She was shy, but decisive and she was full of life,” said Von Hohenlohe. “She felt very observed. I knew Audrey Hepburn and Gina Lollobrigida and they didn’t care about people around them—they just lived their lives, even though they were public lives.”

The artworks are essentially a reflection of himself. “I wanted to show people that, in the end, I’m this patchwork of things, because I’m not just a snobby royal who goes to elegant dinners,” he said. “I hang out with normal people and with artists, musicians and fashion designers. My whole life and work is kind of eclectic, so these pieces are true to who I am.”