MILAN — “How do you live Genius?”
That is the question that Moncler is asking as it gears up for the brand’s Genius event on Oct. 19 in Shanghai, closing the city’s fashion week that kicks off on Wednesday.
Dubbing Shanghai as “The City of Genius,” the luxury brand will unveil its latest roster of creative talents cocreating the Moncler Genius collection. They include some new names and some friends of the house: Edward Enninful, editorial adviser at British Vogue and global creative and cultural adviser of Vogue; Frgmt by Hiroshi Fujiwara; Gilga Farm by Donald Glover, the American actor, musician, writer, director, and producer; Chinese multidisciplinary artist LuLu Li; Mercedes-Benz by Nigo, the creative director of Kenzo and Human Made; Palm Angels, created and designed by Francesco Ragazzi; A$AP Rocky; Willow Smith; Rick Owens, and Jil Sander, designed by Luke and Lucie Meier.
“The inspiration for The City of Genius comes from a 1960s study according to which 98 percent of 5-year-olds qualified as geniuses. By the time they reached adulthood, however, that percentage decreased to 2 percent,” stated Moncler. “The process of living and the constraints of growing up somehow de-geniuses the mind. The challenge for everyone is to keep our internal genius alive, following the example of the creative minds of the Moncler Genius 2024 roster, by keeping their 5-year-old selves alive and kicking. The teaser campaign, titled ‘Born Genius,’ imagines these Moncler geniuses as 5-year-old muses of themselves.”
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While keeping the precise location under wraps for security reasons at press time, Moncler said the event will take place over a 323,000-square-foot space in Shanghai.
Moncler will also unveil a short movie directed by photographer, artist and filmmaker Wing Shya, “The City of Genius,” with global brand ambassador Leah Dou as the embodiment of Moncler Genius. “Set in a visionary city inspired by Shanghai, the film follows Leah from a 5-year-old child into adulthood, as she navigates the twists and turns of life while simultaneously maintaining and protecting her creative imagination, in order to go on living Genius.”
Artist Xu Bing will link the experience, film and campaign through a creative expression of calligraphy.
The “City of Genius” event will be livestreamed on WeChat, Douyin, Red and Weibo.
Last year, Moncler hosted its annual Genius format in London under “The Art of Genius” moniker linking with nine collaborators including Alicia Keys, Pharrell Williams, Mercedes-Benz, Palm Angels, Frgmt, Adidas Originals, Salehe Bembury, Roc Nation and Rick Owens.
The brainchild of Moncler chairman and chief executive officer Remo Ruffini, Moncler Genius was introduced in 2018 and was designed over the years by the likes of Pierpaolo Piccioli, Simone Rocha, Jonathan Anderson and Craig Green, to name a few.
Usually in February, the company has held one Genius event a year since 2018, with the exception of 2022 when it celebrated Moncler’s 70th anniversary.
In 2021, the brand added a new layer to the experience by presenting its collections in September through a digital activation across five cities — New York, Milan, Shanghai, Tokyo and Seoul — and through the vision of 11 designers, in a single show hosted by 15-time Grammy Award winner Keys.
In addition to its signature line and Genius, Moncler includes the Grenoble collections. In the first half, for the first time, Moncler reached sales of 1.04 billion euros, rising 11 percent compared with 935 million euros last year.
Parent Moncler Group, which went public in Milan in 2013, also includes Stone Island. As a group, in the first six months of the year revenues totaled 1.23 billion euros, up 8 percent compared with the same period last year.
As reported, last month Ruffini found a new partner in Bernard Arnault’s LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, teaming with the French luxury group to forge a deal that will help Ruffini strengthen his position as Moncler’s largest shareholder.
