JW Anderson has moved from London Fashion Week to Milan Fashion Week to
debut his collaboration with Moncler as part of its Moncler Genius 2020 hub
of creatives.
The capsule collection was unveiled within the third Moncler Genius
presentation in Milan, which featured 12 different installations, 12
different concepts and 12 different visions, as part of the fashion house’s
message of “one house, different voices”.
Jonathan Anderson, who joined the collective earlier this month, took
top billing at the Moncler Genius presentation, showcasing his non-binary
elegance, alongside Sergio Zambon and Veronica Leoni for 2 Moncler 1952,
Sandro Mandrino for 3 Moncler Grenoble, Simone Rocha, Craig Green, Matthew
Williams of 1017 ALYX 9SM, Fragment Hiroshi Fujiwara, Richard Quinn and
Poldo Dog Couture.
For his debut collaboration with Moncler, Anderson offered a modern
interpretation of masculinity and femininity, through a cross-pollination
of menswear and womenswear, with architectural designs that defy “staid
notions and gender barriers to propose a progressive, cleverly non-binary
vision,” added Moncler.
Anderson has inflated pieces from the JW Anderson archive, such as a hat
from his spring/summer 2015 womenswear collection and the ruffled men’s
shorts with the knee-high boots from his autumn/winter 2014 menswear
collection, alongside Moncler puffer coats featuring dots and spikes as
decorations, which worked on the juxtapositions of matte and shiny and
mixed nods to the countryside with notions of city dressing.
“The technicality and straightforwardness of Moncler are fascinating to
me,” explained Anderson in a statement. “A down jacket needs to respond to
a function, and I kept that in mind adding my own taste for blunt
abstraction”.
Veronica Leoni, Simone Rocha and Craig Green showcase new collections
for Moncler at Milan Fashion Week
Other fashion highlights from the presentation included Veronica Leoni
interpreting the outerwear and outdoors attitude for Moncler 1952 (Woman)
to showcase a new refined power of femininity that was both empowering and
elegant with genderless tailoring that featured wools, devoré velvets,
nylon twill, off-centre diamond quilting and knits resulting in pieces that
showcased extreme layering of textures and three-dimensionality.
Explaining her collection, Leoni said: “Imagining an army of women on a
quest for a lost paradise, I looked at the exoticism of the beginning of
the XX century and interpreted it in a modern, intensely functional way.
“It’s all about femininity and elegance, with a twistedly practical
angle. I am particularly proud of the collaboration with gender equality
group Girl Up on a special item with the slogan: It’s Her Right.”
While Simone Rocha worked her signature romantic shapes in ways that
were both dreamy and active, using tulle, the most ethereal of fabrics, for
outerwear, distributing garden pansies, daisies and roses as embroideries,
embossing and print, and letting frills swarm everywhere.
“This collection was originally inspired by Fellini, dance, and the
fantasy of dress,” explained Rocha. “It is very much my interpretation of
Moncler’s technical expertise, exploring fabrications and silhouettes but
bringing it all under the female gaze in my idea of modern femininity.”
For Moncler Craig Green, the emerging designer merged his interest for
the technical and the industrial with a daring and imaginative vision, as
he worked solely with micro rip-stop nylon, a super-lightweight yet
extremely sturdy fabric, as he focused on concepts of transparency,
security and protection, devising boldly practical forms.
“There is a scientific aspect to Moncler that I find inspiring,” added
Green. “I wanted to explore ways of pushing simplicity to the extreme and
using the process of down filling almost like a print, building volumes
around the body from flat items, from 2D to 3D. For me, Moncler is
ultimately about protection and functionality.”
Richard Quinn also stood out with his bold luxe, “no-holds-barred,
glamorously feisty, gloriously embellished vision that’s energetic and
fearless”. The capsule collection of couture gowns featured bold prints,
embroideries and bejewelled details, while shapes were svelte, with a
ladylike shape, and all with a Moncler edge, right down to the
stiletto-heeled duvet boots and the printed tote.
Explaining his vision, Quinn said: “I wanted to create a 60s meets space
age dynamic, a transition from the past to the future in my signature
prints that match and clash, with strong headpieces for a vibrant idea of
total luxe.”
Moncler Genius steps beyond fashion with collaborations with Rimowa and
Mate.Bike
This year Moncler Genius has entered a new phase “beyond the product
embracing the world of experience while empowering personal communication
and bringing connections and emotions from the digital domain to real life”
with new collaborations with luggage brand Rimowa on a new travel concept
and an electric bike with Danish start-up, Mate.Bike, created for the
extreme terrain of the mountain and the snow, as the brand looks to explore
other sectors beyond fashion.
For its Moncler Rimowa concept, the brand showcased technology,
connectivity and communication in the digital age, with a special edition
Moncler Rimowa ‘Reflection’ case that features an LED screen that invites
travellers to broadcast their thoughts in real-time using a custom-built
app, “bringing idioms of digital communication into the physical realm,”
explained the brand.
Moncler Genius 2020 has also extended its “pioneering spirit” as an
innovator of the outdoors by joining forces with Mate.Bike on a unique
e-bike created for the extreme terrain of the mountain and the snow,
equipped with a foldable duvet, which has been designed to test the
boundaries of “conventional commuting and personal expression”.
There was also something for man’s best friend with the brand’s
collaboration with Poldo Dog Couture, including the classic duvet dog vest
in a variety of colours and made with nylon laqué. The reflective jacket
has 100 percent silver film incorporated into a nylon jersey mesh to give a
space-age aesthetic with a crinkled and ultra-lightweight finish. The size
range runs from small breed to larger dogs.
Images: courtesy of Moncler
