Moncler began life 70 years ago in Monestier-de-Clermont, a small town in the heart of the French Alps. Founders René Ramillon and André Vincent built the brand on a simple premise: to create a quilted sleeping bag for the mountaineers who traversed the surrounding snow-capped peaks. By 1954, the duo had created their first down jacket, used that year by Italian climbers Achille Compagnoni and Lino Lacedelli to reach the summit of K2, the second-highest mountain in the world. Now based in Milan, Moncler has been protecting its wearers against the elements ever since.
It was somehow fitting, then, that the first event of Moncler’s 70th anniversary celebrations, a vast public spectacle in Milan’s Piazza del Duomo this September, took place in the battering rain. No matter – the 1,952 dancers, singers and musicians (the number references Moncler’s founding year) were outfitted in matching white versions of Moncler’s signature Maya jacket. The synchronised routine, imagined by renowned choreographer Sadeck Berrabah (Sadeck Waff) and performed for an audience of 18,000, proved the hardiness of perhaps the brand’s most recognised style. Despite the downpour, the show went on.
Moncler’s Maya 70 down jacket
Maya 70 short down jacket, £1,260, by Moncler
Indeed, it positioned the Maya jacket as the central protagonist of the 70 days of celebrations that have followed, a symbol of ‘tradition and innovation’, as Remo Ruffini, chairman and CEO of Moncler says. ‘A design that keeps evolving in style and materials, thus always remaining contemporary.’ Created for the anniversary and worn by the various performers, the Maya 70 – a new take on the classic design in a choice of 13 reinvigorated colours, all with a special logo patch on the sleeve – epitomises this timeless quality.
Alongside, seven international designers will put their own spin on the Maya – a celebration of Moncler’s illustrious track record of collaboration, best represented by the ‘Genius’ project (which has invited designers such as Simone Rocha and Kei Ninomiya to reimagine Moncler’s DNA in their own inimitable styles). This time, the seven enlisted creatives are Thom Browne, Hiroshi Fujiwara, Rick Owens, Pierpaolo Piccioli, Francesco Ragazzi, Giambattista Valli and Pharrell Williams, whose versions of the Maya will arrive in weekly drops (Piccioli’s arrived in stores 16 November).
Maya 70 short down jacket, £1,260, by Moncler
Celebrations are rounded out with the Extraordinary Forever campaign – a combination of archival and contemporary photography depicting the 70-year journey from Moncler’s adventurous Alpine roots – and accompanying exhibition ‘The Extraordinary Expedition’, a multisensory exploration of the brand’s ‘past, present and future’, which, having travelled from New York to London, will make its final stop in Seoul on 18 November.
A version of this article appears in the December 2022 issue of Wallpaper*, available in print, on the Wallpaper* app on Apple iOS, and to subscribers of Apple News +. Subscribe to Wallpaper* today
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