Fashion brand Moncler has unveiled an all-black collection designed by Kei Ninomiya, which was inspired by the Italian brand’s classic down jacket. The collection was developed for the Moncler Genius project; part of a series of eight collaborations with designers including Valentino’s Pierpaolo Piccioli, Craig Green and Simone Rocha.
Kei Ninomiya approached the collection with the eye for intricacy and the sense of experimentalism he is known for. He explored an idea of wearable geometry, pushing the limits of duvet from both a technical and an aesthetic viewpoint, striving for innovation in both fields.
Kei applied painstaking workmanship and fabric manipulation to the garments, using nylon and leather for a series of challenging yet functional items, made by multiplying small modules and assembling them into complete forms. Shapes are feminine, with round skirts, stoles and cropped jackets or longer coats defining punk yet romantic silhouettes, always completed with sturdy boots.
Each item looks both familiar and surprising: iconic forms are taken to new grounds with a keen use of intarsia, quilting, stitching, appliqué, ruffling that create decorative yet geometric movements all over the surfaces. Even flowers turn into geometric cutouts or are morphed into dangerous leather applications. Technique is pushed to the extreme in the down-filled nylon tubes knitted into voluminous jumpers. The overall effect is one of dark romanticism, further stressed by the uncompromising palette of shiny, futuristic black.
Ninomiya – a protégé of Rei Kawakubo – heads up his own brand, Noir Kei Ninomiya, under the Comme des Garçons umbrella. He is known for creating garments in a restrained palette of black, using white or red as occasional highlights.
The full lineup of 40 designs from the Moncler 6 Noir Kei Ninomiya collection is available exclusively at Dover Street Market in Ginza.