Moncler Opens First Grenoble Stand-alone Boutique in Saint Moritz
MILAN — Fashion and luxury brands are increasingly flocking to the mountains and betting on skiwear, a burgeoning category in their lifestyle offerings.
As part of a broader push toward its mountain-geared Grenoble division, Moncler is opening its first flagship store dedicated to the label in Saint Moritz, the tony Swiss ski destination and luxury hub.
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Designed by the architectural firm Küchel Architects, the 3,230-square-foot space pays homage to the landscape of the surrounding Swiss Alps, with natural materials including wood, stone and marble peppered with metal and futuristic design elements. The high-ceiling unit is scattered with giant tree-shaped sculptures evoking a forest and enhancing the space’s verticality. Trees are a recurring motif, as in the pines scattered throughout the space and displays molded in the shape of trunks and branches. A stone pathway guides customers through the unit.
Located on central Via Maistra, where the brand already operates a flagship store carrying other Moncler collections, the seven-window Moncler Grenoble flagship opened in time for the kick-off of the ski season and has been awarded with the LEED certification for its high sustainability standards.
The boutique carries the full Grenoble range, including high-performance skiwear, as well as outdoor and après ski gear. Designed to perform in the most extreme conditions, the technical clothing is waterproof, windproof and breathable, features taped seams and mixed padding combining down and technical stuffing. Available for men, women and children, the fall 2023 Moncler Grenoble lineup is rendered in a palette of green, yellow, blue and red, in addition to black and beige.
Also on the retail front, a range of Moncler Grenoble pop-up stores is bowing in key international destinations, including at multibrand retailer Franz Kraler in Cortina d’Ampezzo, the Italian high-end ski resort, as reported, in addition to the Hankyu Umeda boutique in Osaka, Japan, through the end of December, and at Sagmeister in Lech, Austria, until March 3.
Further exemplifying its ambitions toward Grenoble, Moncler is releasing a dedicated ad campaign featuring marquee athletes Xuetong Cai, Perrine Laffont, Richard Permin and Shaun White, all Moncler Grenoble ambassadors.
Called “Beyond Performance,” the campaign was lensed in Switzerland by Jamie Hawkesworth, who captured high-adrenaline ski runs and intimate, off-duty gatherings among the athletes. A short movie by Benn Northover portrays the group of four on the ski slopes as they share with the audience their relationship with the mountains.
Appearing in the campaign is Moncler Grenoble’s first snowboard design created in collaboration with Whitespace, the brand by the three-time Olympic gold medalist White. Crafted from lightweight wood encapsulated in an ultra-dense glass and carbon fiber shell, the slim snowboard is inspired by surfboards.
A year ago, Moncler rebooted Grenoble as the brand’s “high performance” division, flanked by the fashion-forward Moncler Genius and lifestyle Moncler Collection. The skiwear-aimed fall range is accompanied by a summer proposition also hinged on outdoor activities in the mountains.
Moncler Grenoble owes its name to the city that hosted the Olympic Games in 1968 when the brand was the French national ski team’s official supplier. The first Grenoble collection was presented in New York in January 2010 during the city’s fashion week.
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