What Moncler does best is reinvent. Since 1952, the brand has been turning the utilitarian puffer coat into a status item. And in recent years, Moncler has worked with houses like Valentino and Simone Rocha to reimagine the staple entirely—as elaborate garments like colorful puffer-coat gowns.
Earlier this year, Moncler had its Grenoble show in St. Moritz. Models like Emily Ratajkowski and Adut Akech stomped through a hazy fog wearing shearling coats with rounded lapels like supersize glam neck pillows. Just last month, the brand headed to Shanghai for its City of Genius event, which could best be described as a high-fashion fever dream, with guests like Rihanna and collections designed by luminaries like Rick Owens. And today, Moncler has continued its pursuit of evolution and reinvention with its third installment of Moncler Re/Icons.
For the last three years, Moncler Re/Icons has celebrated the signature designs that Moncler has become known for by revisiting a definitive style and turning it on its head. In 2022, it did so with the Maya Jacket, a short down jacket crafted from glossy nylon laqué with boudin quilting. Last year it took a cotton hooded down coat from 1954, the Karakorum, and reimagined it three different ways. And now, its Verone style is getting the redesign treatment.
For those not familiar, the Verone is Moncler’s reversible glossy short down jacket, a sleeker spin on the ’80s down jacket. It’s a transformable piece with sleeves that can be removed, turning it into a vest.
The Moncler Re/Icons gives us two new reinterpretations of the jacket: the Verone Opus and the Verone AI. The Verone Opus takes the winter puffer to new lengths, quite literally, with a full-length silhouette in monochrome black and white ideal for event dressing. Like the puffer-coat gowns the brand has designed in the past, the silhouette sweeps the floor with a coated nylon. The stand collar frames the neckline like an elegant going-out top. Of course, the sleeves can still be detached, turning it into the most fanciful puffer ever.
As the Verone AI’s name would suggest, it was created in part with digital intelligence for a more exaggerated take on the boxiness that made it a classic in the ’80s, with amplified boudin quilting blown out for a more oversize look. It’s crafted from soft, tear-resistant coated nylon with a matte finish and a detachable collar and sleeves. They’re both puffer jackets unlike anything you’ve ever seen—and yet they still feel distinctively Moncler.
Cre: Harper’s Bazaar
