"I know what I don't like," says the 64-year-old former World Cup skiing champion and Olympic triple gold medalist Jean-Claude Killy, one of the more enigmatic and strong-willed Frenchmen to ever slalom through an Alpine sport. Killy is currently deprecating the aggression in today's skiwear—the garish colors and brash logos that, he thinks, disturb the peaceful slopes. "If you see a skier cutting good turns, he understands skiing," Killy reasons. "Elegance means efficiency, also in clothing."

As an antidote to present ills, this season Killy is unveiling a new collection of outdoor winterwear with the French company Eider. Using primary colors and muted white shades, he is turning out jackets that are both visible, for safety purposes, and have occasional touches that match the subtle tints of snow. Quality is impeccable, and the labels discreet, as Killy's guiding principle is "skiability." By that he means feeling right under all circumstances: sitting on the chairlift, skiing down the piste, walking back to the chalet, or just generally showing off.

Born in 1943 to a family from Alsace, Killy grew up in Val d'Isère, a ski resort in the Savoy Alps of France. He started his racing career at age nine as a jumper, and though downhill proved his calling, he was often happily airborne during races. It was, as Killy says, "typically French. If it works, it's brilliant; otherwise it's catastrophic!" At the 1968 Olympics in Grenoble, he won all three Alpine gold medals—downhill, slalom, and giant slalom—only the second skier to do so since Austrian Toni Sailer prevailed at Cortina in 1956. More significantly, these Olympics were among the first to be televised in color and aired worldwide. Killy became a household name.

That very season, at age 24, he retired to focus more on "a life outside skiing" and outside the public eye, which included two marriages and three kids. Today, he is settled in Geneva and is a member of the International Olympic Committee. Fittingly, this season marks the fortieth anniversary of Grenoble and of Killy's historic performance. "Pure coincidence," he says of the serendipitously timed launch of his clothing line, "and a fortunate one." Like so many moments in a well-lived life.