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Tag: Moncler

  • Moncler Invited the Rich and Famous—And Me—To Aspen

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    After a complimentary glass of champagne at the St. Regis, my home for the weekend, I took an SUV—one of 180 available for Moncler guests throughout the weekend—for a 4-minute drive to the nearby Hotel Jerome, where, as I would later find out, the grownups were all staying. (As in, the VIP and high-profile guests, including Moncler CEO Remo Ruffini and my friend and perennial nicest-person-in-fashion award front-runner Rickie De Sole, a VP at Nordstrom and daughter of legendary Aspenite Domenico De Sole.) I was to join a press huddle with Ruffini, who would explain the reasoning behind staging his show in the US after choosing Courchevel last year and Saint Moritz the one before. This would be my first Grenoble show, though I did attend the €30 million spectacle Moncler hosted in Shanghai in 2024.

    In between hits of his vape, Ruffini delivered hit after hit of soundbites: “Brand perception is everything,” he said, in response to a question about his penchant for blockbuster shows. “I hope these journeys continue to elevate our brand,” he said.

    Ruffini was also celebrating the opening of a dedicated Grenoble store, its second-ever for the line. (There is a Moncler store, which opened in 2008 and was the brand’s first in the US, across the street.) Would he ever expand into hospitality, say, by opening a resort?

    “Hospitality is very important in our business, and we have the culture [of investing in it] in my family’s office, but not in the company at this moment,” he said, smiling, before delivering a true banger: “Experience is more important than possession.” It’s why Moncler hosts these spectacles all over, and why these trips include more than just a fashion show. He likes to see, and show, Moncler in action.

    When prompted about whether showing stateside, with political tensions and tariffs and other considerations, gave him pause, he said, matter of factly: “Think of the weather in New York right now, this is more important than tariffs, in a way.” As long as there’s snowstorms, people will buy a puffer jacket. Ruffini just needs to make sure that people know of Moncler. Which brings us back to me, a would-be snow bunny, in Aspen.

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    José Criales-Unzueta

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  • Olympic Mode, Activated: The Best Winter Games Inspired Menswear

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    Every four years, the Winter Olympics remind us that athletic competition transcends the physical. It becomes a theater of national identity, where what athletes wear as they process into the stadium carries nearly as much symbolic weight as the medals they hope to bring home. The opening ceremony transforms some 3,000 competitors into walking embodiments of their countries, each delegation dressed by designers tasked with distilling centuries of cultural heritage into garments that must perform under scrutiny from billions of viewers worldwide.

    The results have ranged from the triumphant to the peculiar. Lithuania’s 1992 appearance in Barcelona in Issey Miyake‘s radical pleated capes, donated free by the designer to the newly independent nation, remains among the most audacious statements ever made on Olympic grounds. Canada’s 1988 Calgary delegation arrived in fringed red trench coats and white cowboy hats, leaning hard into the host city’s Cowtown reputation. Then there’s the eternal question of how much nationalism is too much—how literally a flag should be rendered across a lapel or intarsia knit.

    For Team USA, that question has had a consistent answer since 2008, when Ralph Lauren first partnered with the U.S. Olympic Committee for the Beijing Games. The brand’s preppy aesthetic, with navy blazers, white trousers, newsboy caps and rowing-club sensibilities, has become inextricably linked to American Olympic identity. The process begins roughly two and a half years before each Games, with the design team meeting athletes, researching host cities and building garments intended, as David Lauren puts it, to “become timeless.” 

    Milano Cortina 2026 presents what is perhaps the ultimate test: staging American athletes in one of the world’s undisputed fashion capitals, where sartorial scrutiny reaches its apex. The good news for spectators: many of these official outfitters—Ralph Lauren, Emporio Armani, Le Coq Sportif and others—make civilian versions of their Olympic gear available to the public. What follows is the best of it, from ceremony sweaters to alpine-ready puffers, for anyone who wants to channel the Winter Games from the stands or the sofa.

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    Paul Jebara

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  • A First-Timer’s Guide to the Dolomites

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    Where to stay in the Dolomites

    The Dolomites have no shortage of extraordinary accommodations, where design-forward hotels often become the destinations themselves. Forestis, perched 6,000 feet above sea level in Brixen, is a sanatorium-turned-five-star hotel with a minimalist aesthetic that embraces its surroundings. The Dolomites provide a breathtaking backdrop, visible through every angle, including the hotel’s floor-to-ceiling lobby windows or from the outdoor bed of a Tower Suite—the property’s signature among its 62 guest rooms. Daily wellness programming includes sound baths, guided Wyda forest walks inspired by Celtic wisdom, and Aufguss rituals, a 10-20 minute sauna experience where an Aufguss Master pours essential oils over hot stones and skillfully twirls a towel to circulate the air, all set to the rhythm of the music. This summer, Forestis quietly debuted Yera, the 14-course (cellphone-free) multi-sensory dining experience paired with housemade, fermented alcohol-free drinks, all set inside a cave. 

    About 90 minutes east in Avelengo, Italy’s German-speaking region, Chalet Mirabell feels like a whimsical fairytale. Anchored by a natural swimmable pond and roaming alpacas, the family-owned five-star resort caters to both families and couples with dedicated dining areas and pools for each. Adults can enjoy the variety of wellness programming offered daily, retreat to one of three pools, or head to the 65,000-square-foot spa at the heart of the property. 

    The hotel’s 70 cozy guest rooms blend natural wood and modern accents with plush furnishings in warm tones. Many of the guest rooms are equipped with fireplaces, free-standing tubs, and private balconies overlooking the mountains. For large groups or multi-generational families, choose from one of three mountain villas that can accommodate up to 12 guests. This winter, the sister property Chalet Zuegg debuts, with ski-in, ski-out access to Merano 2000, the town’s premier ski area.
    In Pinzolo (population: 3,000), Lefay Resort & Spa Dolomiti is the only five-star resort in Madonna di Campiglio. The nearly 54,000-square-foot spa is the resort’s crown jewel, with nine saunas and steam rooms spread out across three floors. Of the resort’s 88 alpine guest rooms and 21 residences, the Exclusive Spa Suites elevate your wellness experience to the next level. At just over 1,000 square feet, each suite features a massive whirlpool, private sauna and walk-in wardrobe for all your cozy mountain layers, hiking gear and après-ski essentials.

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    Leila Najafi

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