If the Moncler down jacket is not as popular as the Frigidaire, in its field, it has taken the lion's share.
Proper nouns that have become so common.
Signs of the times.
From that of the insolent success of the luxury market that the tricolor label, which has passed under the Italian flag, now dominates.
The one that was enough for Remo Ruffini to enter the league of the (very) greats: twenty years.
Two decades to build a future for what was originally just a company of warm and technical clothing founded by a certain René Ramillon – same initials as the current manager, well!
-, near Grenoble, in 1952 (in Monestier-de-Clermont exactly, hence its name, contracted, Moncler).
She has been creating down jackets since the mid-1950s (not for vacationers but for workers, who put them on over their overalls).
Dressed the French alpine ski team at the Grenoble Olympics in 1968. Team for legendary expeditions to Nepal or Alaska.
Provides its most innovative creations to a dozen of the best ski schools in the world (in France, Switzerland, Japan).
But business is running out of steam.
When, in 2003, the self-made man who remembers “
always passionately loving this brand dedicated to the mountains
”, bought the company, he launched himself “
not as a visionary
,” he says, “
but as a builder pragmatic, rigorously attached to its history and its roots, focusing on creation
.”
Starting with this goose down monoproduct that it will establish as a world reference.
As a fashion icon, nothing less, and as a lifestyle, nothing less.
Seducing fashionistas.
Relaxing generations of men and women who are too happy to ditch the jacket while remaining protected but more cool and stylish.
And the CEO, who will no longer take off his second hat as artistic director of the brand, to operate in the process, under the name Moncler Genius, a spectacular move upmarket – with the help of pioneering and cutting-edge collaborations on the down jacket , such as those of Pharrell Williams (unpublished at the time), Jay-Z, JW Anderson, Rick Owens or Alicia Keys.
A esteemed success.
And a hit in terms of image, even if 80% of the brand's turnover is still made thanks to urban ready-to-wear, Moncler Collections.
Also read Who are the new Moncler Genius collaborators?
In theatrical icy silence, the finale of this first Moncler Grenoble fashion show.
Moncler Grenoble
Launched in 2010 to reconnect with its Isère origins, the Moncler Grenoble line is aimed at true lovers of skiing and "off-piste" fashion with more timeless chic - a spokesperson for the group assures that "
90% of people internally will tell you that it’s the one they prefer
.”
It would be close to 10% of overall turnover, a percentage that the group aims to increase, the “Grenoble” dynamic, embodied this season by high-level athletes, clearly being in tune with the times.
“
The taste for outdoor sport is experiencing spectacular growth, especially in the United States and Asia,
” observes the CEO and largest shareholder of Moncler.
Who knows how much post-Covid life has revalued “outdoor” activities and their virtues.
And it is hardly surprising to see, after Chanel, Louis Vuitton or Fendi, newcomers such as Balenciaga, Brunello Cucinelli or Loro Piana focusing more than ever on the development of “ski wear”.
Confident, Ruffini intends to recall his unique legitimacy in the sector: “
It was in the mountains that it all began.
Moncler Grenoble represents our roots, our DNA, it is an authentic blend of high performance and style.
In a permanent quest for technicality and creativity, form and functionality, today we are taking a new step in shaping the future of our heritage.
» Highly strategic in this respect, the line's first parade, last Saturday, in the Swiss Alps, has demonstration value.
In front of 250 guests, whom he likes to describe as a “community”, made up of international press, relatives and friends (Matteo Renzi, Anne Hathaway, Renzo Rosso, JR, Lorenzo Bertelli, Ermenegildo Zegna, Kate Moss or the director at 'eternal cigarillo Paolo Sorrentino...), the man, who is in his element here, has not skimped on the means to make an impression.
“
The time for “Grenoble” has come
,” he declares.
At 2,000 meters above sea level, it is pitch black and the temperatures are seriously negative.
In the snow and among the tall fir trees surrounding the Clavadatsch lodge, warm sake and mulled wine are served to observers transformed into lunar creatures, wrapped in white down jacket capes (Moncler,
of course
), before taking their places throughout of the frosty and winding path that 135 models will take (!).
A set with a strangeness reinforced by the silence respected by the nightlife of the forest – the
Casta Diva
de la Callas which opens the show being only audible in the privacy of the headphones that everyone is invited to wear.
It's been a long time since I had this idea to parade the “ski wear” in this natural setting of Saint-Moritz which has been familiar to me since childhood.
Remo Ruffini, CEO of Moncler
In an icy mist interspersed with laser flashes giving the setting an almost unreal depth, Italian supermodel Vittoria Ceretti descends from the mountain in the lead, snowboard under arm, in a cream shearling vest, Gore-Tex pants and anorak and White Polartec with black zips.
It opens a long succession of boys and girls in high-tech suits in all shades of beige, accessorized with helmets, mittens, moonboots, water bottles, backpacks, ski boot bags and other fleece caps.
The tricolor, bi-material or harlequin patterned carmine red, black and shiny ivory intrecciato down jackets bring the subject up to date with virtuosity.
Failing to be able to measure the extravagant technicality of the proposals for extreme athletes which follow one another, it is the desirability of the “après-ski” wardrobe alternating with looks designed for the most stylish slaloms which seduces on -field.
Mouse gray water-repellent flannel pants give crazy chic to the silhouettes streamlined by sumptuous patchwork tops of virgin wool and alpaca with geometric intarsia cuts, or quilted jackets with jacquard patterns stylized in Aran knitting stitch.
Chestnut funnel-neck sweater dresses or straight skirts zipped over ribbed leggings and mega-boots in long-haired faux fur are revealed under impeccable lined tweed coats.
The series of shearling jackets and fresh buttery turtlenecks in thick twisted wool on cognac or mini glazed brown velvet pants completes the convincing.
In a theatrical icy silence, the finale freezes in the forest as if spellbound.
The “Apres-ski” wardrobe mixing virgin wool and alpaca in intarsia and jacquard patterns.
G. Giannoni/Moncler
Calm and distinguished, the Italian billionaire whose business is also close to the heights (the company, which has 6,000 employees, 280 stores in 70 countries and whose sales are estimated to have amounted to 2.8 billion euros in 2023, with a margin rate close to 29%, today weighs more heavily on the Milan Stock Exchange than a national pride like Prada) takes a confident look at this onslaught of “grande bellezza”: “It has been a
long time since I had this idea of showing the “ski wear” in this natural setting of Saint-Moritz which has been familiar to me since childhood
,” he confides.
A native of Como, he has always skied here on weekends with his parents like so many Milanese (two hours away) for whom it is the ideal destination.
He has a chalet there, close to the Suvretta slopes and the Paradiso mountain restaurant, where he had invited everyone for lunch a few hours before the event.
“
Saint-Moritz is also the place where Moncler opened its first store in the world, before my takeover
”, recalling, with satisfaction, that “
all this makes sense
”.
The Moncler Grenoble fashion show in St. Moritz Moncler Grenoble
And in the posh heights of the city where luxury shopping is an existential activity, the first Moncler Grenoble flagship store, entirely dedicated to this mountain world, opportunely opened its doors last December.
Dark and sober like a black forest, these 300 square meters entrusted to the Küchel Architects studio are an invitation to come without a suitcase (or a dream of consolation for those who have not found theirs at the airport, or even those whose luggage did not fit in the jet...): the offer, mixed and skillfully segmented, made in Europe, traceable and now free of fur, covers, in volumes to lose your mind (without equivalent elsewhere), everything that it is possible to desire in such a context.
The arrival of the models presented under the starry sky of Saint-Moritz, for fall-winter 2024-2025, promises the right time to make the choices of this clientele even more difficult.