Moncler hosts star-studded Genius event in Shanghai

Luxury clothing maker Moncler on Saturday showed off its latest celebrity collaborations in a series of pavilions built inside a former shipyard in central Shanghai, as it seeks to ignore the sector's global malaise.

More than 8,000 guests attended the “City of Geniuses” event, which featured separate pavilions for each of the contributors to this year's Moncler Genius collection, a list that includes high-profile names such as A$AP Rocky, Edward Enninful, Willow Smith and Rick Owens.

Since 2018, Moncler Genius has invited creators from various fields of fashion, music and art to co-create collections that put their own spin on Moncler down jackets and this year the collections were showcased in various ways at catwalk shows. , they modeled in elaborate gardens and on a go-kart racing track.

The event comes to Shanghai as the luxury world prepares for a slowdown due in part to China's slowing economy and declining consumption.

The French LVMH, a benchmark in the luxury sector, reported on Tuesday a 3% drop in sales for the third quarter.
Moncler, however, has been outperforming its luxury competitors this year, with revenue up 11% in the first half and double-digit growth among Chinese consumers shopping both at home and abroad. The company has not yet reported third-quarter results.

“China is a very good market,” Moncler CEO Remo Ruffini said at a press conference ahead of Saturday's event. “[The luxury market] “It's volatile, you know, but… I'm sure that in five years, China will be much bigger than it is today.”

Last month, Ruffini strengthened his control over the group after closing a deal with LVMH, which bought a 10% stake in Double R, the investment vehicle controlled by Moncler's CEO, allowing Double R to increase its stake in Moncler from 15.8% to 18.5%. over the next 18 months.