Not terribly entertaining and rather poorly written, but has some interesting background info on the company itself. What do you think about luxury parkas? Is that a stupid idea, or is there merit in it? Is North Face not enough?
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/21/fa...ml?ref=fashion
A Gucci Loafer, Filled With Feathers
A Gucci Loafer, Filled With Feathers
ONE might look around in
this great season of giving (a k a great season of wanting) and imagine
that the American teenager invented brand-crazed delirium, so riveted
is this particular creature by simple words like Nike, Nintendo,
Abercrombie, Apple. But the Moncler ski parka, this season?s men?s wear
must-have, is a pert reminder that American youth have something to
learn from Italians and makes clear that adult men are no strangers to
brand fever.
Born in France in the 1950?s, the Moncler parka became part of
fashion history in the 80?s as a key look of the paninari, a clutch of
clothes-crazy Milan teenagers whose style revolved around brands like
Levi?s, Timberland and Moncler. Two decades later, the label, virtually
unknown in this country only three years ago, has snowballed into the
sleeper hit of the season. Sales are up 30 percent since last year, a
turn of events made more remarkable given that outerwear sales are down
in this mild El NiƱo-addled winter.
But style knows no season. Moncler parkas and vests ? a basic jacket
sells for about $800 ? have already sold out at Bergdorf Goodman Men,
and only a handful of styles remain at stores like Jeffrey, Barneys,
Saks, Bloomingdale?s and Paragon Sports. They have even been strong
sellers in warmer climes ? at Fred Segal in Los Angeles, for instance.
?It?s not selling because you need a coat,? said Tom Kalenderian,
vice president for men?s wear at Barneys, who compared the Moncler
parka not to Prada Sport or North Face coats but to the Gucci loafer.
?Moncler has become synonymous with the puffy down coat. The competitor
is not even second-best.?
Certainly the trim-yet-puffy coats look good, especially those
patterned after the company?s earliest parkas, first made in Grenoble
in 1952. They quickly became a favorite of the new ski-happy jet set
then thronging to the Alps. This legacy has helped the resurgence of
the line, which includes looks that easily adapt to a range of men:
70?s-retro-rock downtownster; slick art-world operative; haute-humble
country guy; or all-around V.S.I.P. (very self-important person).
?It?s more of a European fit,? said Mark Goulet, who oversees visual
merchandising for the Elie Tahari stores. ?It?s not so boxy; it?s cut
to a more athletic frame.? Mr. Goulet, 37, bought a Kelly-green Moncler
vest last winter and a navy one this year, and he is now looking for
just the right parka. Moncler?s appeal, he said, is how it merges the
youthful athleticism of a ski jacket with a fashionable-yet-classic
sensibility. ?The styling is good, the colors are great, and it feels
really authentic,? he said. ?I can?t wear Diesel; I?m too old. You
don?t feel like a silly Gap-wearing kid in this.?
Such appeal was what led Remo Ruffini, the chairman of the Milanese
fashion company Industries SpA, to buy 51 percent of Moncler three
years ago, with an eye to pruning the general sportswear that had
diluted the brand and getting back to its core business. ?When you say
Moncler, you imagine a down jacket, not sportswear,? he said.
While the company was founded on high performance and quality, Mr.
Ruffini has put his money on style to kick off its revival, including
special-edition down-filled collaborations with Balenciaga, Fendi and
Junya Watanabe. And as he knows, Moncler?s status as the only coat the
paninari would wear came out of its retro-ski-set appeal, not its
technical specifications.
?Moncler had two lives, one in the 50?s and one in the 80?s,? said
Mr. Ruffini, who has been influenced by the paninari?s pointedly
apolitical cultivated consumerism for almost 25 years. ?I am always
thinking about these two strong periods. I want to create some special
concept that has them both.?
American consumers may find it hard to imagine how the paninari,
Italy?s answer to Generation X, were able to shock with a parka when it
took major cocaine busts to do the same here. But at least we can
appreciate the irony of a vogue for a ski parka designed to perform at
very high and very low altitudes ? that is, the cold temperatures of
the slopes and the chillier reception that fashion holds for the wrong
brand.
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