MONCLER’S LATEST GENIUS COLLECTION LOOKS TO TOKYO FOR INSPIRATION
For his new Moncler Genius collection, designer Sergio Zambon looked at the city of Tokyo: delving beyond the hard bones of the hyper-kinetic metropolis and into its soft center, where an environmental mindset suffuses the fast pace of modern life. The collection aims to define a new comfort zone, bringing the spirit of rest out of the domestic environment and into public life.
Zambon zoned in on two cult Tokyo brands to bring to life the collaboration: And Wander and Suicoke, specializing in progressive outdoor wear and shoes respectively, resulting in a restful wardrobe that is both visually vibrant and deeply cozy.
Zambon frequently involves artists in the development of prints: this time working with Karo Akpokiere, whose humorous and engaging drawings bring an energetic note to the Tokyo dialogue. Akpokiere’s comic-like deconstructions of the Moncler logo or newsprints from 1952 add another layer of pop to the pieces.
The idea of resting out is central to the collection: one in which a knitted tracksuit is meant to go public, trousers are ribbed, a skirt is wrapped around the hips spontaneously as if it was a towel, ponchos and duvets have blanket hems, and slippers are designed to hit the sidewalk. The looks are pop in their vibrant immediacy, yet clean in design, and naturally genderless. The collection has a Japanese metropolitan feel that starts in total black with unexpected quilting patterns, moves to the hyper-technicality of light-reflective puffers, and evolves to mis-assortments of greens and a saturation of bright hues, including pink, arranged in vivid juxtapositions. The marriage of Moncler’s performance and a fashion-forward mindset happens in a natural way with subtle twists, in a proliferation of nylons, technical organza, cottons, ribbed knits.
Accessories include teddy hats, caps with outsized pompons, hammered leather lace-ups, quilted slippers and sandals developed with Suicoke, padded bags, and bum bags.
