Culture
WHAT HAPPENED AT MONCLER STUDIO ASCENTI PARIS
13 July 2023UrlfreezeShops took a trip to Paris for the second instalment of Studio Ascenti: a community event exploring the innovative world of Moncler footwear.
Following on from its debut last year, UrlfreezeShops was invited to take part in the second chapter of Moncler Studio Ascenti: an immersive, open-format experiential space dedicated to celebrating the label’s innovative footwear offerings. This time around, members of the Moncler community gathered in Paris on a warm and serene summer’s day, coming together to embark on a journey into new possibilities of form, fit and fabrication. The event, which took place in the scenic 11th arrondissement of Paris, was hosted by Samutaro: the creative renowned for his vast knowledge on product and culture.
As you first entered the space through a large curtain, your senses were immediately energised through a vast, rectangular-shaped table in the centre of the room, upon it rows of Moncler’s technical offerings — the 1 of 100, 3D-printed Trailgrip, for instance, or forthcoming colourways of the down-filled Gaia Pocket. Alongside this was a selection of archival pieces from Moncler collector Dapper Dylan: a mint condition GORE-TEX Grenoble sleeping bag and gloves from the 1970s. On his Moncler sleeping bag, Dylan commented “It’s the first Moncler item made from GORE-TEX, as well as the only sleeping bag in existence to be made from the material. The amazing story of how I found this is it belonged to a lady called Annie Charlon, the daughter of René Ramillon who founded the company in 1952. This is the closest you’ll get to the heart and soul of Moncler, coming from the original family”.
To further the deep dive into Moncler history, the space also included an archival, mountain-themed library collection to nod to the brand’s origins. After deepening our understanding of Moncler both past and present, we then entered a large, house-like building located towards the back of the room. Within, guests were invited to enter several exploratory rooms, namely a mountainous, virtual world that transported visitors to the Trailgrip GTX’s natural habitat.
Following this, we then move into an upstairs room dedicated to Moncler’s partnership with adidas: an installation that recreated a mountain structure using a ubiquitous urban material, scaffolding, nodding to the fusion of nature and city at the core of the collection. We examine various collaborative sneakers, like the NMD S1 Boot and the Campus, while we speak with adidas’ Head of Design, Stefano Pierre Beruschi. On the importance of collaborations, he commented “it’s the opportunity to explore things outside of comfort zones. Each collab that we do, Moncler being a very important one of course, we get to reinvent ourselves and how we reinterpret either an icon or the familiar. Taking the references of sport and colliding them with the origins of Moncler, so down, mountaineering and ski gear, is a really nice crossroad between different things”.
After delving deep into the collaborative world of Moncler and adidas, we then move on to Salehe Bembury’s workshop: an interactive session where everyone planted their own bonsai tree, using a cement cast of Salehe Bembury’s Trailgrip created by Giammarco Antoci of SNK-LAB. The workshop included a mini-interview with Samutaro, where the two delved deep into Salehe’s creative approach, collaborative design and his partnership with Moncler. Once the bonsai trees had been planted, attendees were then given the opportunity to have the plant pot signed by Salehe, as well as a chance to speak to the creative visionary up close.
The event culminated in an exclusive performance by Lafawndah — a breath-taking showcase of her experimental take on pop, where she fused her serene vocals with atmospheric soundscapes, bringing the event to an end in spectacular fashion. Studio Ascenti attendees then left and headed to Amagat, where the evening was spent enjoying food and drink in the restaurant’s beautiful oasis of a garden.
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