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The idea for LowDown Helmets was born in Italy—but not in the Dolomites, as you might expect. Instead, brother and sister Steve and Courtney Eaton were inspired by the chic Italians zipping around ancient city streets on Vespa scooters. The retro helmets brought back memories of their childhood go-kart and sparked an idea that evolved into a business plan: It would be really cool to bring that look and feel to skiing and snowboarding.
About five years later, LowDown Helmets launched in 2024, just in time for this winter’s snowsports season. Designed in Carbondale and handmade in Italy, the full-coverage moto-esque helmets ($298) are equal parts la bella vita and slopeside steez. The combination puts the Colorado startup in a prime position to disrupt the snow helmet industry with its vintage looks.
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“Helmets have evolved from a tech perspective, but we hadn’t really seen the evolution from a look and feel perspective,” Steve says. “We couldn’t be more stoked to bring this classically cool new helmet style to the ski and snowboard world.”
Entering the ski industry together is a bit of a throwback journey for the sibling co-founders as well. Both began skiing around age three, when their father started taking them to Connecticut’s Mohawk Mountain, near their childhood home. Skiing has remained a lifelong family tradition, and Steve says their 82-year-old dad is still charging with 20-some days a year on the slopes. (The patriarch recently dusted off an original ’80s onesie to pair with his LowDown helmet on a family trip to Telluride.)
Both Courtney and Steve followed the powder to Colorado after college. An artist with entrepreneurial experience in pottery, furniture, and home-building with her husband, Courtney now lives in Carbondale, where she creates LowDown’s designs, while Steve splits time between New York and Colorado. “I’ve spent most of my career working in the corporate world, mostly in sales and marketing positions within the finance industry,” Steve says. “I think my sister and I have overlapping but complementary skills.”
But neither had ever made outdoor gear.
So, they started by educating themselves and setting their business priorities: family, safety and brain injury prevention, and sustainability, including a commitment to the environment through the nonprofit 1% for the Planet. They found good partners as they nailed down prototypes, navigating seemingly endless choices for everything from liner materials and fasteners to vents, paints, and colors. When it came to manufacturing, Steve says sustainability and fair labor practices were important.
“We were pretty adamant about not wanting to mass produce a helmet in a place far away where we weren’t really sure what the working conditions or quality controls would be,” he says.
When they couldn’t locate a North American manufacturer, the Eatons looked to Europe and found a cultural connection in a small town in Tuscany. “Fortuitously, we were able to find a family-owned helmet manufacturer in Italy that started in the ’70s doing ski helmets but then diversified into other areas,” Steve says. “They were pretty excited about what we were doing—and excited about getting back to their roots and creating snow helmets.”
LowDown’s helmets are safety-certified in the United States and Europe, allowing them to sell in both regions, but for now, skiers and snowboarders can only get them stateside. (Steve says they are already receiving inquiries from Europe.) Most sales this season are direct to customers online, but Denverites can find them in-store at Valbruna Vail, an Italian-owned boutique in Vail Village where you can also score a free Lavazza espresso.
As retailers continue submitting inventory orders months in advance, consumers can expect to see LowDown in more stores next year. By then, Steve says there may be a model that incorporates the patented Mips system designed by medical researchers to redirect rotational force away from the head. A neon ’80s, Miami Vice–inspired graphic may show up as well.
“We’re psyched about the progress we’ve made,” Steve says. “We’re a new brand in a market that’s fairly dominated by some really large brands. The void we’re trying to fill is taking advantage of the enhancements in helmet safety standards and components, but adding something different than the typical styles out there.”
LowDown may never be as ubiquitous as those Italian Vespas, but the Eatons are thrilled to see their helmets showing up on Colorado slopes. “Now it’s like, Wait, I don’t know that person, and they’re in a LowDown helmet! We’ll be yelling at them from the chairlift,” Steve says with a laugh. “It’s one of those moments we keep having, when we realize: We’re doing it.”
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