Moncler Genius hosted The Art of Genius on Monday night in London during the city’s fashion week. The massive, immersive live event redefined the collaborative project founded in 2018 as a co-creation platform, fostering conversations between art, design, entertainment, music, sport, culture, and fashion.
Courtesy of Moncler Genius.
Over 10,000 visitors were welcomed inside the vast Olympia London in Kensington, including well-known names like Hailey Bieber, Naomi Campbell, Alexa Chung, Winnie Harlow, Maria Sharapova, FKA Twigs, Serena Williams, Charli XCX, and more. All were there to experience several pavilions showcasing “The Art of Genius,” created in collaboration with Alicia Keys, Pharell Williams, Mercedes-Benz, Palm Angels, FRGMT, adidas Originals, Salehe Bembury, Roc Nation by JAY-Z, and Rick Owens.
The Art of Terrain by Pharrell Williams, courtesy of Moncler Genius.
The vast space of Olympia London pulsated with sound and blue light, filled with several free-stranding pavilions hosting each unique collaboration. First up, draped in a glowing white exterior, was Pharrell Williams’s “The Art of Terrain.” Inside was a landscape of luscious green, covering the floors, chairs, tables, and trees in grass and moss. Branches intertwined around the space dripping with Spanish moss, their tendrils mirrored in audio gear wires that translated the live plants into sounds and music. “The Art of Terrain is taking in the world around you and getting inspired to create something beautiful. If you allow yourself to be open, you can find inspiration in almost anything,” said Williams. Moncler x Pharrell Williams features clothing that is serene in both natural and metropolitan settings—functional and multi-use.
The Art of Lightness by Palm Angels, courtesy of Moncler Genius.
“The Art of Lightness” by Palm Angels drew in visitors with its floor-to-ceiling windows showing a foam party within. Illuminated with red and blue lights, the foam looked cloud-like from the exterior. Working with London’s Boiler Room, Palm Angels and Moncler created a “place-non-place” to be explored by sight, sound, and touch. “The Art of Lightness is related to the infinite possibilities we have inside and outside ourselves. My intention was to create an immersive experience where foam represents a metaphor of the snow, which at the same time refers to a deep sense of peace. The result is a celebration of the individual imagination – a space that can be whatever you want it to be, where freedom and self-expression are enhanced at the utmost,” said Palm Angels’s Francesco Ragazzi. The collaborative collection, launching later this year, continues Ragazzi’s affinity for vintage Americana.
The Art of Elements by Salehe Bembury, courtesy of Moncler Genius.
Next, viewers were transported to another planet with “The Art of Elements” by Salehe Bembury. The footwear company’s pavilion featured a sand pit that emulated the surface of Mars, punctuated by models pushing around a large grooved, spherical rock at its center. “The Art of Elements is an exploration of palette, shape, and utility. From extensive time spent in the wilderness, I have developed a deep appreciation for nature and the elements that come with it. The Art of Elements is an exploration of the spectrum of energy that these elements deliver,” said Bembury. For the brand’s first ready-to-wear collection, Bembury looked to exploration and adventure as inspiration, pulling from a palette of Earth tones and purposeful pieces.
The Art of All by Roc Nation & Jay-Z, courtesy of Moncler Genius.
Roc Nation by JAY-Z created a recording studio within its pavilion where guests could venture into sound booths to record their voice, later sampled and produced into music live by the legendary Mike Dean. “The Art of All is the journey, it is the everyday, it is waking up and using your voice. Genius is everywhere,” said JAY-Z. The collective music finds parallels in the Moncler x Roc Nation by JAY-Z collaboration, featuring modular sets that can be worn together in a variety of ways—like harmonies and melodies.
The Art of Love by Frgmt, courtesy of Moncler Genius.
Musings on emotional connection served as a starting point for “The Art of Love” by FRGMT. Within a circular structure, guests peered and leaned in through windows, overlooking a cozy space full of fuzzy furniture, models in houndstooth coats and capes, and adorable robots deemed “LOVOTS.” Hiroshi Fujiwara had a vision for sparking feelings of joy, warmth, and even love between human and robots, performers and onlookers. “The Art of Love is familiar to us all, but also exceptionally diverse. There are many kinds of ‘love’ – many different ways of showing love to others. I hope this installation contributes to spreading love to the world in a unique way,” said FRGMT’s Fujiwara. The black-and-white houndstooth outerwear on display was just a tease of future collections with Moncler.
The Art of Exploration by adidas Originals, courtesy of Moncler Genius.
A checkerboard of scaffolding lit from above and framed in blue set the stage for three levels of models wearing The Moncler x adidas Originals collection. Taking the people from the streets to the summit, “The Art of Exploration” revealed an interior ice cave, with moving image walls and ceiling creating an immersive LED glacier. “The Art of Exploration is fundamentally about fearlessly stepping into the unknown. Our collection takes on contemporary frontiers – from the city streets to the summit peaks – for a new context. The immersive event is an extension of this vision – toying with the senses in order to confront guests with an experience that is inspirational and outside of the norm,” said Stefano Pierre Beruschi, Senior Design Director, Culture Collaborations & Partnerships, adidas Originals.
The Art of Imagination by Mercedes-Benz, courtesy of Moncler Genius.
Mercedes-Benz created a bit of magic with its elaborate stage performance. A curved hat-shell structure featured a snowy, star-filled set, with a cylindrical LED structure at its center vibrating in black and white stripes. As the lights dimmed and the stars glowed brighter, fog erupted, the center cylinder lifted, and a massive vehicle was revealed. Named PROJECT MONDO G, the reimagined G-Class art piece featured monster-sized silver tires and reflected the same quilted pattern as the iconic Moncler puffer jacket. Its roof had that same pattern and texture, featuring an oversized zipper that went from the front windshield all the way to the back. “The collaboration with Moncler inspired us to create a real iconic sculpture on wheels – a very bold design statement: our PROJECT MONDO G. Based on our design philosophy Sensual Purity, this art piece merges extremely contrasting forms and surfaces: spacecraft shiny materials with a used patina look; strong geometry of the G-Class with organic forms of Moncler puffer jackets. Two strong luxury brands offer an extraordinary new experience by combining automotive and fashion world united in one piece. Because of over-dimensional and exaggerated language of forms it’s polarizing art to set new impulses and trends,” said Gorden Wagener, Chief Design Officer Mercedes-Benz Group AG.
The Art of Design by Rick Owens, courtesy of Moncler Genius.
Rick Owens created a temperature-controlled, soundproof steel Sleep Pod for “The Art of Design.” The designer’s capsule collection with Moncler featured signature quilting, yellow tie-dye, elongated coats, puffers, and flight jackets. “The Art of Design takes the aesthetic bubble concept of our last collection with Moncler further: to a personalized, quietly considered, and introspective bubble as a customized sleeping pod – with clothing to match,” said Owens.
Courtesy of Moncler Genius.
Owens also treated visitors to a program of DJs with an afterparty dancefloor, which followed a stellar live set by Alicia Keys in “The Art of Dreaming.” The performance also marked the launch of Keys’s designs with Moncler, described as, “cool, easy 100% New York—inspired by late ‘90s streetwear, but with a twist.” The artist, songwriter, and designer put it best when she said, “The Art of Dreaming is that pure creativity that inspires you to keep reaching higher, no matter what life throws at you.”
And that sense of pure creativity pulsed throughout the over-the-top event, teasing at what’s to come from Moncler Genius as it embarks on its next phase as a platform for creativity in collaboration.
Courtesy of Moncler Genius.
