Collide is a new collection from Moncler which links the brand, with its highly experimental vocation, to the creative world of the US artist and designer Greg Lauren.
Dismantled, intersected and recomposed, reinvented with an extremely free, unexpected yet harmonious hand, fragments of denim garments as well as other very worn fabrics are incorporated in to puffer jackets – achieved with a kind of stratification, as well as an emotive, narrative approach which Greg Lauren holds dear. Collide is a collection which once again crosses over into the field of artistic expression.
Greg Lauren is a fascinating and visionary painter and sculptor. Having studied Art at top-flight college Princeton, he went on to specialise in the field of Fashion Design, where he mapped out a journey around the idea of men’s suiting as a medium for interpretation and personification, a meeting between style and role which revealed his ability to overlap different aesthetic fields and approaches. In so doing, he pursued a highly evocative path, with a powerful emblematic impact. The cornerstones of a man’s and woman’s wardrobe which intertwine a sense of belonging with aspiration. Greg Lauren has a full men’s and women’s collection. The collaboration with Moncler reflects his own collection’s signature use of ‘‘repurposed fabrics’’ as well as unique juxtapositions of iconic references. Greg Lauren has drawn on his artistic work in his independent concept of Fashion Design, which revolves around the specific theme of vintage. With Greg Lauren, Moncler has created around 200 unique and Limited Edition clothing pieces – mens, womens and unisex, with focus iconic designs from the brand’s heritage such as the über-puffers Maya, Bady and Moka.
‘‘The ability to express thoughts, feelings or sensations through artistic creations has always fascinated me. I have the greatest respect for art and artists in general, regardless of their form of expression. Greg Lauren is first and foremost an artist, but also a designer who experiments with new languages’’, said Remo Ruffini, entrepreneur and CEO of Moncler. ‘‘I have followed and admired his work since the outset. His exhibition ‘Alterations’ revealed his true identity, and an outstanding ability to overlap. And it is this art of mixing things that led me to work with him. I wanted the iconic style of Moncler to be mixed with something else, almost as if to reveal a new identity. And that is what happened. The result is quite astonishing’’.
‘‘It all revolves around the concept of ‘destroyed elegance’, and ‘imperfect perfection’’’, Greg Lauren explains, ‘‘and around a philosophy of absolute uniqueness and originality. Each of these items came about thanks to a creative fusion suggested by morphology or the possibility for metamorphosis of Moncler’s heritage. I grew up in a family where the tailoring culture was practised in a form I can only define as religious. It is no coincidence that my creations, all of which I produce in my atelier in Los Angeles, tell a story of the role we embody in life, in our families and our social circle. What I try to identify with my fashion work is an idea of new luxury which is customised and rendered unique, far beyond any brand uniformity or generalised trend.’’
‘‘In looking at who we are and why we wear what we wear’’, Greg Lauren adds, ‘‘I love taking iconic ideas and reinterpreting them through the artistic blender, deconstructing what we thought we knew, so that we see it differently, a familiar vocabulary becomes a new language, one which we can still connect to emotionally’’.
Moncler x Greg Lauren Collide is a Limited Edition collection which comes in three different colour ways: classic Moncler two-tone in flame red and light blue, black and military green. The Moncler x Greg Lauren Collide Collection will be available to buy from Fall 2017 in all Moncler boutiques, selective department stores and moncler.com
all images courtesy of Moncler