February 21, 2018 |
Announced only last week, expectations for this unprecedented assembly of Fashion Globetrotters, the Moncler Genius Project, was sky high, but few predicted they’d get it so right, so soon. Apart from us, obviously. Each one of these eight collections is deserving of individual deconstruction and appreciation, certainly more than we are able to give here, but suffice to say that after yesterday’s show, the global appetite for this bold new initiative has been thoroughly whetted. Continuing the theme of disrupting fashion’s natural order, Moncler’s show took the place of Gucci (but by no means usurped it) as the traditional Milan show opener, a triumph in show production that saw eight huge tents erected in an aircraft hangar to house each of the eight collections that make up this, “Republic of imagination”, in the words of Moncler.
Each tent served as a miniature microcosm, mirroring the essence of the clothes within. Simone Rocha’s elegant take on daring Victorian climbers in petticoats for instance, was set among snow-covered rocks, while Pierpaolo Piccioli’s take on the classic Moncler down jacket, flared for a silhouette that verged upon the ecclesiastical, was surrounded by the works of Brazilian artist and monk Sidival Fila. Elsewhere, Craig Green delivered a typically moody spectacle, all-black, nomadic shapes that toyed with function and form stood under pools of light, surrounded by darkness. Amid today’s burgeoning ‘drop’ culture and social media releases, this might prove an exciting new dawn for Ready-to-Wear. Bring on next month’s release.
