Valentino's Pierpaolo Piccioli joins forces with Moncler to design the duvet coat of dreams
Inter-luxury-house alliances don’t come along very often, so when they do, it piques interest. This winter, if you’re the kind to pursue sartorial flair even during blizzard conditions, then Moncler’s Genius collection will warm your heart in a way that no padded duvet coat has ever before quite managed.
As part of its rolling monthly series of collaborations, the Italian house that specialises in high-performance – and high-design – alpine kit has engaged a constellation of creative stars. Each will focus their eye on the Moncler codes and produce limited-edition collections. The idea is to move away from the traditional fashion seasons and offer customers constant freshness without compromising on the quality of ideas.
In a noisy luxury landscape, it’s a shrewd idea. So far, London luminaries Craig Green and Simone Rocha have released their Genius. For October, the man of the month will be Valentino creative director Pierpaolo Piccioli. The project is the brainchild of Remo Ruffini, Moncler’s CEO, who has struck après-ski-style gold with Piccioli’s contribution.
“The graphic shapes are as mystic as they are futuristic,” Ruffini explains. “He stripped the classic duvet to the bare essence. The result is outstanding.” If you’ve ever wondered what a Medici would wear on the slopes, then Piccioli’s Renaissance-art inspired work offers a conclusive answer to that niche conundrum. “The purity and shapes of the Madonnas of that time fascinate me,” he elaborates. “I wanted to convey a kind of metaphysic of these Madonnas.”
The difficulty was to emulate the romance he usually weaves in the finest silks with the lightweight down-filled-nylon of Moncler. “It was challenging,” he admits, “I tried to give the jackets the essence of couture without using opulent materials, just by choosing shapes and colours. I wanted to keep pure shapes, without embroideries, using only one material.I wanted to give a different picture to the world of Moncler.”
Directed at those who might shudder at the thought of salopettes, the result is a powerful study in minimal elegance. Piccioli has fashioned the classic nylon duvet material into concisely structured pieces in vibrant colours that give a sense of wit and joy. Flared maxi coats are nipped in at the bodice, over full-length A-line skirts and dresses. Hoods are cut so close that they wouldn’t look out of place in a Marvel comic; cropped wide-cut jackets add flair; and elbow-length gloves punctured with ties running their length provide an off-kilter edge.
The dramatic pieces will only be slightly modified from the collection Piccioli presented at Milan Fashion Week. The lengths are a little shorter, but his sharp vision will be retained. If you take your winter-coat purchasing seriously, this is perhaps an opportunity to invest in a rare moment of timeless style with keen practicality and technical promise. Equally, a piece from this collection will make quite the stealth statement in town, or indeed on the slopes. Just pray for snow.
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