Moncler

founded by

René Ramillon

belongs to

Remo Ruffling

about

The Moncler clothing label has a rich history having first been created in 1952 near Grenoble in France. The founder of the brand was a Frenchman named Rene Ramillon, and the name came from an abbreviation of the mountain village named Monastier de Clermont which is close to Grenoble.

At the start, Moncler, managed by André Vincent, friend of Ramillon and dealer of sports articles in Grenoble, produces padded sleeping bags, a single model of lined cagoule and camping tents with telescopic structure and external covering.

The company first started out producing down jackets in 1954, initially using the lining from sleeping bags to shelter workers from the cold, who wore them on top of overalls in the small mountain factory. The first to notice them and see their potential is Lionel Terray, key figure in the history of Moncler. On his return from an expedition to Canada, the French mountain climber asks Ramillon to produce snowsuits, gloves and sleeping bags to provide high resistance and protection for the most extreme climates to use in his own feats. And, so the dedicated “Moncler pour Lionel Terray” is designed and produced. Each garment, including the down jackets, is prepared and perfected with the technical expertise of Terray and experimented on the field during expeditions.

In 1954, the Moncler down jackets are chosen to equip the Italian Karakorum expedition, which culminated with the conquest of the second peak on Earth by Achille Compagnoni nd Lino Lacedelli and, in 1955, they accompanied the French expediton that conquered the Makulù.

In 1964, Moncler is the official provider of the expedition to Alaska organized by Terray.

By 1968 they had made several technological advances in the product and its linings and by 1968, Givenchy bags nightingale, Moncler Clothing had been chosen to be the official manufacturer and supplier to the French winter Olympics team. By 1972 and the next winter Olympics the French skiing team loved the product but demanded a more lightweight product that would give them more flexibility when practising, and thus more lightweight jackets were created that are still available today.

Throughout the 1980’s Moncler started to get a fashion following with people wearing their jackets away from the slopes and in urban areas which helped boost the brands profile, popularity and profits.

Having become metropolitan, Moncler makes an unstoppable rise to the point that in 1980 it meets stylist, Chantal Thomas, with whom it inaugurates a collaboration that will last until 1989 and radically change its appearance: buttons in places of zips, fur trimmings, satin and reversible fabrics. Continuing in its transformations, the first spring/summer collection is unveiled in 1999.

The next big change came for the label in 2003 when it was bought by Italian entrepreneur and fashion enthusiast Remo Ruffling, current president and creative director of the company. Riffing placed a much larger emphasis on the styling of the products to make Moncler one of the leading fashion labels, and in 2006 they launched their first fashion collection for women which has proved to be a huge success. Followed by the launch of the Moncler Gamme Bleur man collection in 2009.

The distribution network also enhances the transversality of the brand. Today, Moncler is present in the most prestigious boutiques worldwide and counts many flagship stores. Aside from the Moncler boutiques situated in the most exclusive ski resorts- St. Moritz, Cortina, Courmayeur, Crans-Sur-Sierre, Megeve, Chamonix, Aspen and Gstaad – since 2007, new flagship stores have been inaugurated in the centre of many large metropolis like Paris, Milan and Hong Kong.