Moncler moving its next Genius event to China in 2021

By

Godfrey Deeny

Published
Dec 3, 2020

Moncler has decided to stage its Moncler Genius 2021 event in China, the first time the brand has moved its annual, multi-designer project outside of Europe.

 
The brand launched Moncler Genius back in 2018, with a critically acclaimed  series of highly original initial puffer jackets, coats and dresses, from a crew of eight designers that included Pierpaolo Piccioli, Simone Rocha and Craig Green.
 
The initial show launch was a massive affair staged underneath the arches of Milan’s Central Station, each of them showing 10 shows in elaborately staged tableaux vivants. The project’s most recent edition in February of this year added such esteemed designers as Rick Owens, Jonathan Anderson and baggage brand Rimowa to the mix, presented with less élan inside a disused Milan factory.
 
Previously, the brand had presented its Thom Browne and Giambattista Valli-directed Moncler Gamme Bleu and Rouge lines on the official men’s and women’s fashion week schedules. These were discontinued with the arrival of Moncler Genius.
 
For its voyage into China, the marques has renamed the project 'Moncler Genius 2021, One House, Different Voices to All,' and promised a new format and schedule.
 

“The presentation will be moved from February to September, and will consist of events broadcast from China across time zones to the world whilst retaining a slot within the Milan Fashion Week calendar,” the house explained in a release.
 
The next stage of the evolution will consist of events broadcast from China across time zones to the world whilst retaining its official Milan listing, the house added.
 
Though founded in 1952 in Grenoble, France primarily as  a winter ski jacket business, Moncler is based in Milan, Italy, and controlled by Remo Ruffini, the dynamic Italian entrepreneur who acquired the marque back in 2013.
 
“By moving East and adopting a broadcasting strategy, Moncler Genius further explores the pervasive immateriality and expansive reach of digital communication, turning into a media act able to talk to customers directly, wherever they are and whatever platform they hover around. In this multichannel approach, the conversation and exchange between the brand and the customer takes center stage, and the customer keeps an active role. The physical experience includes online participation and active interaction, and includes everybody,” Moncler stressed in its release.
 
Moncler did not reveal the names of any new brands or designers who will be participating in the next edition of its Genius project. Though the house was careful to stress that stemming from its Moncler Born to Protect sustainability plan announced in October 2020, its next Genius collections will feature sustainable looks developed according to the individual visions of each Genius, “each one targeting different demographics of clients, different inclinations and personalities.”