Wandering in Moncler's The City of Genius
30,000 square meters, 10 “designer neighbourhoods”, 10 unique Moncler Genius collections — and one stunning “The City of Genius” concept, in which one can soak in different artistic and cultural viewpoints from a diversified assemblage of creative talents
Mere hours before we physically entered Moncler’s “The City of Genius”, a staggering 30,000 square meters of the CSSC Pavilion in Shanghai, Moncler Chairman and CEO, Remo Ruffini teases a room full of international press. “Tonight, you will have a lot of energy, a lot of talent,” he says. And Ruffini absolutely delivered — 8,000 guests (including famous friends of Moncler such as Rihanna, Anne Hathaway, Naomi Campbell, actress Shu Qi, singer-songwriter Henry Lau, and K-pop star Yeonjun) gathered to witness the brand close Shanghai Fashion Week with the ultimate showcase of local and international creative talents coming together. The result: 10 Moncler Genius collections, each housed in their own highly stylised “designer neighbourhood” — the impressive lineup including Jil Sander, Rick Owens, A$AP Rocky, Willow Smith, Palm Angels, Hiroshi Fujiwara, and Chinese artist, Lulu Li.
At the mini press conference, Ruffini notes the rapid progress of the brand’s Genius initiative. In the beginning, in 2018, he says, Moncler tapped on a lot of young fashion designers — including Craig Green and Simone Rocha. Soon after, the project embraced more “mature designers”, such as Pierpaolo Piccioli, too. Now, six years since the birth of Genius, the brand is “looking at the next step” by “involving talents from other industries for another approach to design; a different energy and different ideas” — think the inclusion of co-creators A$AP Rocky, Mercedes-Benz and Nigo (yes, there is a vehicle to be made for sale), and Edward Enninful, as well as the event’s installation realised by acclaimed Chinese artist, Xu Bing.
On why the brand handpicked the Chinese city for this Moncler Genius display after previous showings in Milan and London, Ruffini says, “Shanghai is a very important city for myself and the company. I remember the first time I came here was in 2005, and it has changed a lot in terms of energy, infrastructure, culture, speed. Now, I come here a few times a year. It is important for business, and it is also important to understand the culture. For us, it is important to have one global strategy but also a mix of cultures to add to our global vision.”
We, for one, can’t wait to see where the ever-evolving, always-ahead Moncler Genius brings us all next. Until then, the various Moncler Genius collections from The City of Genius will be dropping this year and in 2025.
