Simone Rocha and Remo Ruffini Talk Moncler Genius
Dani Morpurgo,
When the Moncler Genius Building opened its gates, effectively inaugurating the Fall ’18 Milan Fashion Week, everything came as a surprise. The building wasn’t the Castello Sforzesco or even Palazzo Reale because it is not the location that made it special, but the concept, the collection, which is actually eight collections, is actually Genius. And Simone Rocha was one of the fabulous eight to design it. So yes, they are eight, they are fab, but no comics superheroes. For Simone Rocha, heroes are the fearless Amazonian climbers in Victorian silhouettes you will see on top of the skyscraper you work in, on top of the mountains you go on holidays to, and on top of the world you live in. Because, as the bleeding heart rhetoric taught us, superheroes are just talented and honest people who know what they are good at doing and do it. And they are women, too.
A version of this exclusive interview first appeared in the pages of the 15th issue of ODDA Magazine.
Simone Rocha
Simone, you started your career by founding your own eponymous brand almost immediately after you graduated from Central St. Martins. You are capable of total and unapologetic self-determination and you are not part of the luxury conglomerates, so how did you get in contact with Moncler? How did this whole project happen to you?
Moncler approached me and Mr. Ruffini has such an inspirational vision. It was a pleasure to be invited to work with experts in their field.
Simone Rocha
Why do you think Moncler CEO Remo Ruffini thought about you? Does it have to do with the signature femininity you are known for?
It has been an amazing opportunity to develop and work my existing aesthetic into new fabrications and techniques.
The classic down fabric is reimagined with modern femininity in volume, ruffles and embellishment.
How do you see the relation between a mainstream and popular brand such as Moncler and your own label, which is really appreciated by fashion insiders and revels within psychologically self-aware audience?
Working together with Moncler allows both brands to have exposure to new customers and a wider audience.
Simone Rocha is known for having an extremely feminine twist and taste in the fashion industry. At the same time, feminism is right now a literally wild trend with always-there t-shirt slogans and whatnot. However, as every trend, it tends to defile and pollute the original meaning of the movement. Is your fashion also feminist, besides being feminine? And what is feminism to you?
I want to present the collections for women who engage with femininity in a modern way. I am constantly inspired by strong females – my mother, Louise Bourgeois, Roni Horn, Rei Kawakubo…
SIMONE ROCHA FOR MONCLER GENIUS
Knowing that this wasn’t going to be an exclusive assignment where you were the only creative director, what led you to agree to Moncler’s proposal?
It is a wonderful opportunity to work alongside very talented designers.
What was the story you wanted to tell? How the all-Asian models choice made it recognizable as a work coming from you and yet still Moncler?
The collection creates a uniform of voluminous silhouettes, deconstructed proportions and a new idea of a practical femininity. This has been translated through silhouette, volume and structure. The collection explores these ideas whilst entwining the Simone Rocha femininity with the utilitarian practicality of Moncler.
You have said about your S/S ’18 collection that you actually don’t make moodboards to find and communicate inspiration. How do you explain this process when it comes to collaborating with your employees or to- tally separate labels such as Moncler?
In the studio, we work in actual garments quite early on – so it is fittings on a model or on the stand.
When you say you don’t want to create a fantasy, but to tell a story and create an emotion; how does that emotion not turn into a fantasy again when perceived from your viewers’ eyes?
Maybe for you it is a reality and for them it is a fantasy… It is very important, for me, that whatever I create is wearable and appeals to the customer in a human, ergonomic way.
Remo Ruffini
Visionary Italian businessman Remo Ruffini has architected a staggering scheme to make fashion folk turn their attention towards Moncler, the formerly French brand from Grenoble that he bought in 2003 and is now all Milanese Italian. For his latest creative feet, he successfully brought together eight very different designers to create eight unique clothing line-ups that are all resumed in one: the Genius collection.
CRAIG GREEN FOR MONCLER
As CEO of Moncler, the choice of featuring eight different capsule collections within a collective and inclusive one is definitely rule breaking. How did you come up with such an innovative idea, especially in the somewhat strict Milan fashion week etiquette?
It was a very natural evolution of the brand. Since the beginning, Moncler has constantly looking for new ways of expressing itself – offering through the years collections that, cultivating the uniqueness of the brand, have been synonym of creativity, vision, research and technical features. The idea to combine with Moncler Genius 8 different collections has been the development of our strategy. I believe that creativity has no boundaries and I conceived Moncler Genius as a hub of exceptional creative minds, that have worked together under the same brand while keeping the Moncler DNA alive.
If one had to be nasty they would say that such a radical change of direction could only come from a major inherent creative or commercial crisis. How would you respond to that?
I consider Moncler Genius as a proper leap forward. It is the natural evolution of the brand itself. Moncler Genius project is definitely a contemporary approach in the digital era and it is also the development of the Moncler Global down jacket strategy that Moncler has adopted since when I acquired the company in 2003. The strategy was consumers-focused and the purpose was to attract different customers, from youngsters to the business men or women, to the ladies going to theatre or at a gala. In Moncler Genius, eight designers – each of them different from the other – worked on the singularity of their collection talking to a specific audience, but all of them morphing with the Moncler DNA. To me, the result is outstanding.
What was the particular feature you saw in Simone Rocha that could bring some positive energy to Moncler?
I really love the way Simone has revisited our iconic jacket adding her feminine and romantic touch. I like the way she mixed fabrics, embellishments such as pearls and flowers combining them with a very strong aesthetic.
SIMONE ROCHA FOR MONCLER GENIUS
How would you describe your previous experience with Giambattista Valli and Thom Browne?
Giambattista Valli and Thom Browne did a great job for Moncler. Their professionalism, talent and energy have been the defining elements of all the work we have done together over the years. I have always admired Giambattista’s style to combine a timeless elegance with a contemporary and modern approach when dressing today’s woman, while Thom’s talent for intuition and his inimitable sartorial touch, teamed with the sporting spirit of Moncler, have without a doubt yielded a distinctive, recognizable collection.
“CREATIVITY HAS NO BOUNDARIES AND I CONCEIVED MONCLER GENIUS AS A HUB OF EXCEPTIONAL CREATIVE MINDS” – REMO RUFFINI
You didn’t just need a new creative director; you actually took in at least six big names to put together just one collection, which is Genius, ok. But why is actually ‘Genius’? Why did you decide to totally revolutionize the structure of the brand? It looks like something more than an ordinary need for fresh air.
I have conceived Moncler Genius as a hub of exceptional minds operating together while simultaneously cultivating their singularity.
The uniqueness of the Moncler Genius collections mirrors the uniqueness of the consumers. Since the beginning, Moncler talked to different audiences and this project as told before is what the brand stands for. One house, different voices.
PIERPAOLO PICCIOLI FOR MONCLER GENIUS
What was the criterion to choose and ask the designers featured in Moncler Genius to collaborate?
All the Moncler Genius creative minds have been chosen on the instinct to shape Moncler’s uniqueness. All of them reinterpreted the Moncler DNA combining their unique aesthetic with the Moncler style. I needed different creative approaches to reach the different Moncler audiences.
As a result, having to manage eight different creative directors and eight different collections that will be divided and launched on the market monthly just to cover the Fall season must be beyond challenging. Is it feasible to organize such a multifaceted offer each month for now on?
It is of course challenging, but the new approach in our strategy is driven by the new era’s requirements. It is a 360-degree approach that includes not only traditional channels, but also the new media in order to consolidate our customer-centric culture.
Dani Morpurgo
Dani Morpurgo was born in Senigallia, a small town in Italy. After obtaining the classical studies high school diploma with the maximum grades, she attended the BA (hons) Fashion Styling at the Istituto Marangoni in Paris, where she graduated in 2016. During and after her college years she carried out personal projects as a freelance stylist and she collected work experience in showrooms such as 247 Showroom and Rick Owens and in fashion brands such as Dondup and Parakian, to finally land in the editorial staff of ODDA magazine, where she is currently working”.
Dani Morpurgo
Dani Morpurgo was born in Senigallia, a small town in Italy. After obtaining the classical studies high school diploma with the maximum grades, she attended the BA (hons) Fashion Styling at the Istituto Marangoni in Paris, where she graduated in 2016. During and after her college years she carried out personal projects as a freelance stylist and she collected work experience in showrooms such as 247 Showroom and Rick Owens and in fashion brands such as Dondup and Parakian, to finally land in the editorial staff of ODDA magazine, where she is currently working”.
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