Moncler Classics Reinterpreted by Artists

Creative director of 2 Moncler 1952 makes his curatorial debut tapping 3 artists to create works using the iconic Italian brand as inspiration.

By Rachel Gallaher

A modern standing in a room with a long green-and-black puffer jacket with the hood up. Colorful pillow-like sculptures are in the foreground.

Work by artist Andrea Anastasio, created for the 'Instant Message: A One Day Exhibition' show, presented by Moncler.

On September 25, Italian luxury ski and fashion label Moncler launched Mondogenius: the presentation of its latest Moncler Genius collection in an innovative new format: a digital event hosted by singer and songwriter Alicia Keys. Moncler Genius, an arm of the company unveiled in 2018, is a creative venture that enlists out-of-house designers to create collections that interpret Moncler's identity in a new way (previous designers include Simone Rocha, Craig Green, and Valentino creative director Pierpaolo Piccioli with the two-toned, funnel-shaped puffer coats that everyone lost their minds over).

For Mondogenius, the live-streamed fashion experience guided viewers through designs created by 11 new Moncler Genius collaborators (JW Anderson, Palm Angels, Hiroshi Fujiwara of FRGMNT). As part of the presentation, Sergio Zambon, creative director of 2 Moncler 1952, made his curatorial debut in Milan with a show titled, Instant Message: A One Day Exhibition."

A modern wears sunglasses, a bright pink puffer jacket and green sweat pants.

The 2 Moncler 1952 Man 'duvet' jacket at the 'Instant Message: A One Day Exhibition' show in Milan.

Zambon chose the artists, and personal acquaintances, Andrea Anastasio, Erwin Wurm and Prem Sahib to create a collection of special-edition pieces that reconfigures Moncler’s DNA into other unexpected contexts. Wurm’s Fat Mini takes the silhouette of an iconic car and recreates it in shocking-pink Moncler puffer fabric in an attempt to get views to think about ideas around consumerism and iconography. "I strongly believe when we look on our reality from an absurd angle, with paradox situations and questions, we can probably see more," Wurm says. Behind the car, a triptych of photos, Almost A Perfect Day, depicts abstract human sculptures wearing colorful puffers in a series of poses.

Sahib’s Puffer Desk looks at the desk as a modern cultural artifact and symbol of solitary productivity. A signature 2 Moncler 1952 Man ‘duvet’ jacket serves as the base, curled into the "heads-down" shape so often adopted when someone is deep in concentration on a project.

A desk with a glass top and a base shaped like a black puffer jacket.

Artist Prem Sahib's 'Puffer Desk' at the 'Instant Message: A One Day Exhibition' show.

Anastasio, whose work blends industrial design, art, and his anthropological fascination with non-Western cultures (particularly his satellite home, India), created Alta Quota, which sees sculptural glazed vases bound and interwoven with ornamental mountaineering cords, as well as Giubbotti, repurposing 2 Moncler 1952 Man’s signature outdoor ‘duvet’ as insulation for a delicate vase. Anastasio's works turn everyday items on their heads, creating a new context for the views to question their relationships and interactions with these items.

The works will be available online for sale via Artsy through October 11. Profits from the auction will be donated to nonprofit Free The Work on behalf of The Film Path.