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The summit, a logo and an aspiration. The show with which Moncler presented the autumn-winter 24-25 collection of the Grenoble line on Saturday 3 February in Sankt Moritz was among the highest, both in terms of altitude (the location was a forest at 2,000 metres) both for ambitions. Firstly, to restore visibility and impetus to the more technical line, the one that most profoundly interprets the history of the brand, whose origins it evokes, way back in 1952 in Monestier de Clermont, in the Grenoble district. And which became a brand of international aspirations by dressing the French ski team at the Winter Olympics which took place in the ancient capital of Dauphiné in 1968. Before the Games, Moncler had accompanied climbers and explorers on epic expeditions to the Karakorum, Makalu, Alaska .
Moncler Grenoble, evento fra la neve a St Moritz
In Sankt Moritz, one of the capitals of luxury that has been covered in snow for at least a century and a half, Moncler marks another important stage in its history: «For me, Sankt Moritz is a second home – explains Remo Ruffini, president and CEO of the group –, and it is where Moncler opened its first store over 20 years ago and last November we chose it to inaugurate the first dedicated boutique in Grenoble.” The 300 m2 space is located on Via Maistra, the heart of shopping: among its sophisticated elements, the Valle Maggia granite walkways and the burnished wooden panels according to the ancient Japanese Shou Sugi Ban technique, the colors and technologies of the line stand out Grenoble. «We thought it was the time to believe more in Grenoble, after the investments made in Genius (the other and most creative expression of the Moncler world, of which the main collection is also part, ed.) – continues Ruffini -. His world is the mountains, sport, and the fashion show serves precisely to raise awareness of the product, which we have divided into both more technical and more style-related proposals.”
In the white and enchanted forest of the evening – the writer and poet John Ruskin would have called it “snow altar” – there were over 100 exits: the tones and colors are those of mountain nature, but also those symbolic of Moncler (white , Red Blue); the workmanship is precious, including Scandinavian-style embroidery on jackets, quilting and knitted down jackets; flannel, also with Prince of Wales motifs, laminated to be worn between the peaks. «Grenoble’s technological achievements then expand to the other lines», notes Ruffini, also referring to some creations created with a mix of artificial intelligence, to increase the level of comfort and functionality, and human creativity. «We opened a factory for Grenoble in Romania (today one of the countries preferred by European luxury brands to produce across the border, ed.) because after the relocations to China, the know-how necessary for these productions had been lost in Europe».
Moncler, the Grenoble collection parades in the woods
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In 2023, the ski and aprés-ski clothing category became densely populated, with the debuts of Brunello Cucinelli and Balenciaga, to give just two examples: «Of course, because especially after the pandemic, many luxury consumers have become passionate about the outdoors . It is a market that is exploding, especially in the United States. The increase in competition actually plays into the hands of a brand with a long history and high quality like ours.” Competition that also looks at the new potential of the Chinese market: Beijing has launched the “Winter Sport Development Plan”, investments in infrastructure and promotion to bring the winter sports market in the country to a value of 1 trillion Rnm (equal to approximately 147, 4 billion dollars) by 2025, when it is estimated that the Chinese on the slopes will reach 50 million. Asia, moreover, generates the majority of Moncler’s turnover (which increased by 32% in the first nine months of 2023 compared to the same period in 2022), and the stores on the continent are almost equal to those in the EMEA and Americas markets combined (129 against 133).
Then there are other global phenomena to consider, such as climate change. Precisely in Sankt Moritz, the anomalous heat made the White Turf equestrian races on the (slightly) frozen lake difficult. «We are about to launch Grenoble’s second spring-summer collection, we have worked on lighter weights and our technology will allow us to respond quickly to any possible changes», explains Ruffini, who in 2023, for the fifth consecutive year, saw Moncler achieved the podium in the luxury textile-fashion industry in the S&P Global Corporate Sustainability Assessment ranking. It also recently achieved the highest rating in CDP’s global ranking for its levels of transparency and management of issues related to climate change.