procession of petticoated
Victorian hikers traversing crumpled
paper mountains; 6.5m-high mechanical
cylinders resembling steaming underwater
pistons; a monastic chapel hanging with
paintings by artist-monk Sidival Fila. These
are just three of the eight scenes, hidden
beneath huge tents of silver fabric, which
greeted guests at Moncler’s Genius Project
debut, in the cavernous Milanese stadium
Palazzo delle Scintille in February.
The premise? A roster of designers –
from Simone Rocha (winner of a 2018
Wallpaper* Design Award, W*227) to
Craig Green, Valentino’s Pierpaolo Piccioli
and Rei Kawakubo’s protégé Kei Ninomiya –
were invited to put their creative spin on
the brand’s signature padded down jacket.
Their creations were to be released in line
with a new retail strategy, one that disrupts
the traditional seasonal cycle with fresh
drops of product put on sale each month
(a model that nods to the selling strategies
of street and sportswear brands such as
Supreme and Nike).
‘I started looking at images of women
wearing voluminous silhouettes among
really rugged landscapes,’ says Rocha
of the 19th-century Alpine trekkers, such
as Maria de Mont Blanc and Henriette
d’Angeville, that inspired her collection’s
fusion of ‘femininity and practicality’.
For the Milan presentation, the London-based Irish designer created a scene of
hikers, milling against shadowy paper peaks,
clad in gauzy petticoat layers, lampshade
dresses in padded down, shiny puffer jackets
with frills and frothy finishes, and marabou-
trimmed accessories.
‘I’ve long been intrigued by Rocha’s
sophisticated and hyper-feminine aesthetic,’
says Remo Ruffini, chairman and CEO
of Moncler. The brand’s original, now
ubiquitous, padded down jackets were first
conceived in 1954, and Rocha brought her
mastery of airy fabrics, such as organza
and cloqué, to their ultra-light construction.
‘What was so surprising was that I could
manipulate the fabric like taffeta or tulle,’
Rocha explains. She saw the padded garments
as a ‘jigsaw’, the seams of which could be
pieced together to create voluminous shapes –
such as an A-line coat, its linear puffed
sections widening towards the knee, and
a jacket with undulating ruffles sprouting
from its seams.
Ideas of growth and blossoming were
essential to Rocha’s design concept, which
worked to assimilate outdoorsy garments into
their natural environments. ‘I was looking
at foliage and flowers growing up through
rocks,’ she explains. Signature handwork, such
as beading, sequins and embroidered flowers,
appears to push through seams or cluster
around the graphic Moncler logo. ‘I used
pearls to evoke a snowy mountain palette,’she adds of the collection, which is realised
in white, powdery pink, red and black.
An element of protection is often evident
in Rocha’s designs for her own label, her
romantic silhouettes offset against
militaristic cross-body belts and oversized
cushiony bags. In her accessories for
Moncler, she has emphasised functionality,
creating nylon hiking backpacks that buckle
around the waist and padded ski mittens.
‘It’s something I’ve never done before in
terms of manufacturing,’ she enthuses. Her
experimentation with technical fabrics is
also seen in signature flaring dresses and soft
double-breasted coats reinterpreted in nylon.
‘The Moncler Genius Project was very
much about everyone having their own
identity but being part of the brand’s voice,’
Rocha explains of unveiling her collection
amid offerings as diverse as Craig Green’s
padded men’s diving suits and Pierpaolo
Piccioli’s Madonna-inspired flaring capes.
‘We’re establishing a dialogue with
consumers, talking to different audiences
and continuing to evolve,’ adds Ruffini.
Included in Rocha’s collection is a range
of sunglasses. Ski goggle-inspired and ovular,
they appear as if circled with black droplets
of water. Functional yet feminine, made
for the outdoors yet opulent, they serve as a
symbol of Moncler’s multifarious vision. ∂
4 Moncler Simone Rocha is available from
mid-September, moncler.com; simonerocha.comA
∑ 113