After more than seventy years as the puffer-coat powerhouse, Moncler has scaled mountain wear, skiwear and high fashion. While the latter only began in 2003 when CEO Remo Ruffini took the reins, it’s been quite the ride, offering up a series of major moments now seared into pop-cultural folklore.
Of course, none of this happened by accident. Then relatively small, Moncler underwent a radical rebrand under Ruffini, who took the label from a humble sports wholesaler to a global authority. Using its heritage and history outfitting the French ski team, daredevil climbers and Milan’s Paninaro youth as a springboard, the businessman and creative made Moncler the eternal source of reinvention and style we know today.
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Remember Pierpaolo Piccioli’s duvet dress that revolutionised menswear and womenswear alike? Skepta’s Craig Green space suit that had hypebeasts foaming at the mouth? Yep, that was down (sorry!) to Ruffini’s cogent vision. Taking the signature, high-concentration, horizontal quilting known as ‘boudin’ and running with it, Ruffini opened the brand up to runway shows, drop schedules and a seemingly endless array of collaborations – not to mention the worlds of fine art and music. First beginning when Ruffini commissioned Junya Watanabe to rework the Moncler puffer in 2005, this foray into capital-F fashion was followed up with a Nicolas Ghesquière collab and, later, in 2006, the Moncler Couture line. The rest is fashion history.
These days, Moncler is known for much more than its Michelin Man silhouette. Indeed, last year saw a bevy of celebrations unfold for its 70th birthday in a procession led by The Extraordinary Expedition, a touring show that began at Frieze London, followed with pit stops in New York, Seoul and Tokyo. Alongside NFTs and wild interpretations of its iconic Maya jacket by names including Rick Owens and Pharrell Williams, the roving campaign confirmed what we already knew: Moncler is a fashion fixture. Now, with another slew of co-created collections set to show during London Fashion Week, we take stock of Moncler’s most iconic moves yet.
Pharell’s First Moncler
Meeting at Miami Basel in 2008, Pharrell Williams and Remo Ruffini floated the idea of a collab. The result culminated in a slick capsule of blacked-out gilets, a down jacket and variations on a bulletproof vest made with Bionic Yarn, a recycled-plastic material Pharrell had invested in. Released for AW10, the collection launched at legendary concept store Colette, where Pharrell posed in his own yellow edition alongside rap-rock crew NERD. Finishing his look with Chanel sunnies, distressed denim and a Takashi Murakami medallion slung over a white V-neck, Pharrell embodied the heady days 2000-and-late, heralding sustainable fashion methods before most knew the term. By 2010, the New York Times were touting bulletproof vests all the rage.
Moncler Gamme Bleu SS14
The men’s counterpart to Moncler’s haute couture line, Gamme Rouge (headed up by Giambattista Valli), Moncler Gamme Bleu was designed by Thom Browne, running from 2009 to 2017. Much like his namesake label, it toyed with masculinity, taking designs from traditionally male sports – boxing, fencing and Formula 1, for example – and queering them with pantomime shapes, his signature six-pack suits and skirts (before it was de rigeur for guys).
Every season, a fashion reporter would ask if Thom had any experience in the chosen sport, his response a dry no. In this vein, cricket, which he had never played, was his carte blanche for SS14, a theme he teased with cricket-pad dresses, duveted blazers and cropped cricket jumpers. With gelled combovers and bats and balls in hand, each model rocked a black lip to offset the optic white. The result was a typically irreverent play on gendered archetypes, delivered without explanation. So long as Thom could call these shows sportswear, he had completed his side of the deal.
Craig Green’s Space Suit
One fateful summer in 2017, Skepta shared a fit pic on Insta, coffee in hand, dripped out in Craig Green’s Moncler C capsule collection. Taking the “Michelin Man” look to a whole new level, the outfit racked up likes but also attracted some choice words from freaked-out fans. Later, Moncler followed suit, facing a similar response. “I remember when the first capsule collection launched and Moncler shared an image of the poodle man piece and there were thousands of aggressive, hateful comments,” Craig told us afterwards.
“I was waiting for the mortifying call from them being worried about the collaboration. They seemed to like it. It certainly engaged people.” In fact, instead of ending the partnership there and then, Moncler invited the CSM-trained designer to its next project, Moncler Genius, where his penchant for caricaturing functional clothing only developed. Sure, the comparisons to sea slugs and anal beads didn’t scream success, but the behemoth space suits cum insulated samurai robes were a hit regardless, catapulting his career to new heights.
Hotline Bling
Look, if you get a co-sign from rap’s favourite softboi, you’re clearly doing something right. At the time of writing, Drizzy’s 2015 bop, Hotline Bling, counts 1.9 billion YouTube views, which, to use marketing speak, means serious ‘exposure’ for the red Moncler Maya jacket he’s seen dad dancing in. Little wonder that sales spiked to double their usual in just one day. In fact, even now, Drake and his cherry-red puffer live rent free in the pop-cultural consciousness after being immortalised in meme culture (see Drakeposting).
That coat ain’t cheap, either. Retailing at the £1,040 mark, it consistently sells out, acting like a cash cow for the brand and department stores the world over. First released in 2009, it riffed on Moncler’s metropolitan history among splashy high-schoolers in the Milanese Paninaro subculture – so named for their tendency to flaunt expensive fashions in sandwich (panino) bars. Fast forward to the present day, and the lacquered look has gone full circle. Step into any shopping centre, and you’ll see glossy Mayas on swathes of burger-munching teens, no doubt influenced by Drake’s seminal flex.
Pierpaolo Piccioli’s Duvet Dress
One of fashion’s biggest inclusivity advocates, Pierpaolo was busy decolonising couture at Valentino when the offer to work on Moncler’s Genius project came in. His first collection aired in 2018 during Milan Fashion Week, showcasing a pared-back take on couture with bold A-line silhouettes, capes and the first taste of his duvet dresses. His casting was lightyears ahead, ditching stuffy traditions for a revitalised haute couture made for Black and white women alike. A year later, he returned, offering a stronger vision that combined couturier skills with African textiles.
“I am after a balance of dreaminess, extravagance and soulfulness,” he said of his sophomore collection. “I involved Liya Kebede, who is an active supporter of African artisans with her label Lemlem, in the process, creating something true to her, to Moncler and to my own sensibility.” Indeed, Liya understood this merging of minds as unexpected but truly successful, “redefining beauty and reminding us that there are no borders in life.” Cropping up on red carpets, the voluptuous, intarsia gowns also became synonymous with the “new masculinity”, a moment crystallised in Pharrell’s 2019 cover shoot for GQ where he rocked a billowing, yellow number with bleached hair to match. He’s always worn yellow well.
JW Anderson by Tyler Mitchell
You’d be forgiven for thinking that Jonathan Anderson was watching the Teletubbies when storyboarding his third Moncler Genius campagin, launched for AW20. Set in England’s rolling hills and lensed by Tyler Mitchell, the collection features inflated takes on Anderson’s archival signatures, including the recently revitalised ruffled shorts of AW13. Rendered in bold primary colours and pastel hues with quilted spikes and pin-cushion indents across the surface, it’s a bizarre blend of cozy-boy comfort and CBeebies circa 2002.
Interestingly, despite the ramped-up gender neutrality, it felt less like an affront on gender norms than a confirmation of their desecration. Backdropped with gigantic inflatables at home in Frieze Sculpture Park, the shoot was also collated in a neat box of prints, complete with user instructions on how to hang them for your own home exhibition. Thanks, J Dubs.
Rick’s Road Trip
Part of Moncler’s ability to churn out iconic moments lies in the freedom it gives to collaborators, a fact made especially clear in Rick Owens inaugural crossover. “Moncler approached me about a collab, and I took advantage of the moment to do something different,” said Rick during its launch. And “different” it was. Using his favoured codes – extended sleeves, architectural silhouettes and techno-crusader tunics – the offering functioned as an excuse for Rick’s very own piece of performance art.
Inspired by artist Joseph Beuys’ trip from Germany to New York, where he travelled by ambulance wrapped in felt, Rick decided to recreate his own version. His plan? Line a custom bus with duvet and travel from LAX airport to artist Michael Heizer’s ranch in Nevada. “Heizer had invited us [Rick and his wife Michèle Lamy] to his monumental land art piece City, 48 years in the making, and I hadn’t been to the West Coast since I moved to Europe 18 years ago,” Rick explained. Michèle and Rick donned the collection throughout their tour, and the bus was later shown at Milan Fashion Week, available for sale. Go figure.
Puffer Desk (2021)
Designed with painstaking attention to detail, artist Prem Sahib’s sculptural installation of down coat desks sums up the Monclerian approach. Instead of opting for a schedule of fashion shows after the lockdown, Moncler initiated its MONDOGENIIUS initiative, enrolling designers and creatives into a cultural calendar of film, fashion and fine art. It was the latter arm of the project that brought Prem’s work to Milan’s Stazione Centrale for a group exhibition, Instant Message: A One Day Exhibition, curated by Moncler’s head of menswear, Sergio Zambon. “Prem’s work epitomises contemporary layered cultural values in art, design and society, I feel, with an incredible synthesis, and that’s why I organically connected with the dynamic spirit of Moncler – in one style, different values,” affirms Sergio.
Prem, who has a longstanding penchant for puffers, was thinking about desks and their relation to labour and personal space – both domestically and publicly. “The project appealed to me because it meant pushing the limitations of a material I had been working with very differently in my practice previously, and transforming its use into an object with a totally new function,” he explains. “The minimal design is underpinned by a more complex technical challenge, which was getting about 30kg of metal inside a very delicate jacket discreetly (so it can sustain the weight of a body interacting with it!). In practice, the result was a spellbinding work, showcasing the poetic potential of a garment beyond the runway.
Naomi Does Cali Cool
Naomi Campbell. Wearing a gold puffer jacket and trackpants. On a sun lounger. Do we really need to spell this one out? Yes, to see in the end of 2022, LA’s streetwear kingpin Palm Angels cast fashion’s favourite diva to showcase a sporty array of Americana classics, elevated with Made-in-Italy craftsmanship. Complete with flame-splashed loafers by Tod’s, the collection is one of multiple crossovers between Palm Angels and Moncler, which date back to the first Genius initiative in 2018.
That said, Palm Angels’ creative director, Franceso Ragazzi, goes way back with the brand. “As soon as I finished my studies, I began my professional path with an internship at the brand’s press office. At the time, I was interested in fashion photography. I had studied for that, but I already knew that I wanted to create my own brand in the future. The time spent at Moncler served as a culmination of my studies, and that experience allowed me to learn and grow to eventually launch Palm Angels,” he told us in December. “The two brands are definitely different, but they’re both driven by a huge passion for making high-quality garments drenched in creativity. And they both found a way to build their own distinctive and globally recognised language.” He’s right. Moncler might have started in alpine apparel, but as this campaign makes clear, it’s officially conquered the fashion mountain.