EXCLUSIVE: Moncler to Stage, Broadcast Mondogenius Event From Five Cities
MILAN — Moncler chairman and chief executive officer Remo Ruffini has another surprise lined up for the community he has been building around the brand.
For the first time, Moncler Genius will present its collections on Sept. 25 through a digital experience across five cities — New York, Milan, Shanghai, Tokyo and Seoul — and through the vision of 11 designers, all under one show, which will be hosted by 15-time Grammy Awards winner Alicia Keys.
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The artist will host the event from Milan, which will include other talents involved such as actress and singer Victoria Song live from Shanghai, Solange from New York and director Luca Guadagnino from Milan, among others.
“In these ever-evolving times, I truly believe in the power of connecting communities around the world through experiences,” said Ruffini. “The greatest inspirations I had in my life came directly from people and at Moncler we know that the more we inspire people, the more they inspire us. This is the principle that guided the creation of Moncler Genius for 2021. Mondogenius has been designed to be a real immersion into Moncler’s energy and cultural evolution without leaving anyone out.”
With the event, Moncler will unveil the next roster of designers working on the Genius project. Some are returning and include JW Anderson; Veronica Leoni and Sergio Zambon for Moncler 1952 Woman and Man, respectively; Sandro Mandrino for Moncler Grenoble; Craig Green; Moncler 1017 by Alyx 9SM and Moncler Frgmt by Hiroshi Fujiwara.
Joining this year are Hyke; Palm Angels; Dingyun Zhang and Gentle Monster.
The show will be hosted live via a dedicated microsite (mondogenius.moncler.com) and multiple social media channels comprising Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, YouTube, LinkedIn and Twitter, WeChat, Weibo and Douyin, as well as a network of Moncler Genius partners inclusive of e-tailers and media sites.
According to Moncler, creativity and entertainment will be in the spotlight as the designers’ inspirations range from art and film to music and extreme sports.
While Moncler Genius since its launch in 2018 has been presented in Milan in February, the 2021 edition will be held in September, in a nod to the beginning of the brand’s core winter season.
Ruffini began to evolve Moncler Genius with an increased focus on the brand’s customers last year. In February 2020, the executive started exploring new territories, launching a new product with luxury luggage brand Rimowa and collaborating with the JW Anderson label, founded by Jonathan Anderson.
The choice of cities involved in the event is not surprising. As reported, China, the U.S. and the digital channel helped lift the company’s profit and sales in the first half of the year.
In the Asia region, which includes the Asia Pacific, Japan and South Korea, revenues climbed 56 percent to 282.5 million euros, accounting for half of the company’s revenues. Compared to the same period of 2019, sales in that area were up 15 percent.
In the second quarter, revenues in the APAC region recorded double-digit growth compared with the same period in 2019, mainly driven by mainland Chinese, where revenue almost doubled compared with the second quarter of 2019.
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