Moncler Genius heads to London Fashion Week in February

MILAN – Moncler Genius is heading to London next February.

The brand announced on Tuesday that it had secured a slot at London Fashion Week on February 20 to unveil its next series of collaborations.

"London is a city where the world calls home, it's a global community standing up for diversity and creativity, and a natural destination for the next incarnation of Moncler Genius.The stage is set to give voice to a fresh roster of creative minds from all disciplines and spaces, each expressing a distinct interpretation of the Moncler world,” the company said in a statement.

Moncler did not reveal the location of the Genius event in the UK capital or the names of the employees, although Moncler Chairman and CEO Remo Ruffini hinted at new developments at a capital markets day last May, saying Moncler Genius could also be about "art, music, movies, sports", in addition to fashion.

London's decision portends renewed ambitions for the Moncler Genius project, following the recent focus on Moncler and Grenoble brands, the latter focusing on skiwear and technical outerwear, and last year's acquisition of high-end street brand Stone Island.

Earlier this year, however, Ruffini's decision to put more emphasis on these brands and tweaking the Moncler genius strategy was one of the reasons the company's shares fell nearly 6% in a single day in early May.

Ruffini's brainchild, Moncler Genius was introduced in 2018, attracting a wide range of designers and creatives over the years including Richard Quinn and Matthew Williams of 1017 Alyx 9SM; Pierpaolo Piccioli; Simone Rocha; Craig Green; Fragment Hiroshi Fujiwara; Francesco Ragazzi of the Palm Angels; Rick Owens and Jonathan Anderson, among others.

The company has held one Genius event per year since 2018, usually in February, inviting designers to interpret the iconic down jackets of the brand with their own sensibility.

In 2021, the brand added a new layer to the experience by presenting its collections in September via a digital activation in five cities: New York, Milan, Shanghai, Tokyo and Seoul, and through the vision of 11 designers, during a single show hosted by Alicia Keys, winner of 15 Grammy Awards.

This year, Moncler celebrated its 70th anniversary by launching a 70-day program of global celebrations with a performance in Milan's iconic Piazza del Duomo at the end of the city's Fashion Week in September.

As noted, London Fashion Week in February is shaping up to be a lively affair, and the Moncler Genius event is set to add more fuel. From February 17-23, the showcase is hosted by Burberry, with