Moncler 1. JW Anderson Spring 2021.

 (Images:  Moncler)

Remo Ruffini the CEO of Moncler, family legacy goes back to the high rolling times of the 1970s and 1980s being the manor born to his tailor father Gianfranco Ruffini, based at the time in New York City where he ran the very exclusive suiting company of the family signature name.  Mostly outfitting Wall Street stock brokers and high end legal firms for their suit requirements, Ruffini was the label to have sewed onto a beautifully tailored suit.  Yet, Remo Ruffini's rise to fame as the CEO and Chairman of Moncler, who owns over 25% of what was once a nearly bankrupt Italian mountaineering clothing brand, is slightly more vague in his claim to fame than his father's.  Able to buy Moncler in 2003, quickly restructuring the brand and in 2013 the company became a public listing on the Milan Stock exchange.  Gianfranco's Moncler is now a multifaceted and multi-brand powerhouse with major shareholders like the behemoth hedge fund Black Rock Inc and the investment bank Morgan Stanley.  Which puts the onus on Gianfranco as the CEO of a luxury clothing brand to deliver the goods i.e profits and so far he has, with eight designers invited to work on the brand's 'Genius' projects, creating a split range of designs under the Moncler banner for its 'x' collaboration, it also has included, exclusively to Moncler, the independent avant-garde designer Rick Owens.

Moncler, like most growth companies, share price has skyrocketed since November 2020 when news of the vaccinations started to have impact on reopening expectations and pent up demand, mixed with Central Banks flooding the world with the US dollars to off set the pandemic, igniting the so called reflation trade is the hope for an old normal to return.  Except it is a misplaced overconfidence in defining capital markets through expectations of growth and cheap money, yields, interest rates on debt is climbing, thus it will have a spill on effect to growth industries like fashion and technology.  Gianfranco's grand spectacle showroom in Milan 2020 for Moncler's Fall collection, just before the 1st wave of  COVID-19 hit Italy was a sight to behold, a festival type setting with DJ's and performers aligned with the eight 'Genius' designers collections displayed in a massive showroom to exhibit the collaboration pieces.   Of course part 2 of the expose was scrapped for 2021, awaiting global vaccinations to reach so called herd immunity, with Gianfranco aiming for Shanghai, China in September 2021 to reveal an even more grandeur exhibition of the Moncler collection/s.  Of course the main problem with this reflation trade and terrible misjudgment by Central Bank's, is that companies need to make higher profits in 2021 and 2022, with debt now more expensive and overheads climbing, the inflation of prices is about to hit hard across the board, already the Chinese, who are the main buyers of European luxury items, are now paying more for their Western items.

Still, business is business and fashion is an industry which requires income for the plethora of new designers filling up the ranks of fashion weeks.  And UK designer JW Anderson is of no exception, beginning his career in 2008 he crafts both women's and men's styles leaning more towards the Resort styles as a template for his collections, has, in earnest, released his Moncler Genius collection for the brand's Fall 2021 array.  After a year in lockdown and with creations to unveil, Anderson revealed his sailor inspired styles, which is probably a snapshot preview of his own signature brand as a pre-fall example for later 2021 collections, however, it is the Moncler x Anderson styles that are far more exciting.  With intricate quilting pattens, redefining Moncler's iconic puffer jackets that by all representation are hard to rework into variations of aesthetics. Which overall provides a challenge in configuring the Moncler brand name particularly Gianfranco's manifestation of diversifying the styles of outdoor wear.  The collection is small at 17 pieces, from outdoor settings to a lookbook presentation, yet the designs on offer feel muted and restrained, which could be indicative of the other Moncler 'Genius' Fall 2021 collections to be released shortly.