A FORMER Brookes student set up his ski clothing business, while studying at the university.

Jake Bacon was just 19 and on a real estate management course when he and two friends came up with the idea for Saint Valais.

Keen skier Mr Bacon, now based in Milan, said: “We thought it would be cool to do something to do with skiing.”

His co-founders are Yan Tat Pun, an economics and finance student at Edinburgh University and Alexander Glavatsky Yeadon, skier and hopeful for Team GB.

The clothing range, which includes jackets, knitwear, T-shirts and beanies, is sold online via the firm’s website saintvalais.com.

The site also includes stories and video ‘adventures’ about snow sports, designed to inspire viewers.

The team also runs a ski-themed blog, which has attracted more than 200,000 followers, to market their products.

Mr Bacon said: “Our clothing is fashionable but has the tech and durability to be worn while skiing.

“We took inspiration from the Valais Alps in Switzerland and our typical customer is someone who lives and works in a city but loves the outdoors, mountains and snow sports.”

The three started building the business in 2014 and have funded it themselves.

Mr Bacon added: “We have been self-taught at every step, from website coding to clothing design and manufacturing methods to reduce our costs.”