Moncler Buyer's Guide

January 21, 2022

Moncler: The Buyer's Guide

Nick Matthies

Nick Matthies is an editorial freelancer for StockX.

A comprehensive Buyer's Guide on luxury outerwear brand Moncler, detailing their founding, most popular pieces, and more

A comprehensive Buyer's Guide on luxury outerwear brand Moncler, detailing their founding, most popular pieces, and more

This article is part 16 of 27 in the series: StockX Buyer's Guides

High-end outerwear brand Moncler was founded in a small village in the mountains near Grenoble, France with the intent of creating tents and sleeping bags for those who enjoyed a good adventure. Due to the village’s high altitude, Moncler’s employees frequently found themselves working through frigid temperatures and extreme weather conditions. As a solution to this problem, Moncler created their first down jacket in response to the needs of their employees. The Moncler Down Jacket, made in the mountains for the mountains, shifted the brand’s ethos from tents and sleeping bags to cold weather protection on the front of outerwear. 

It wasn’t long after their founding in 1952 that Moncler was discovered by the who’s who of mountaineers and explorers. In 1954, French mountaineer Lionel Terray worked with Moncler on his own exclusive collection, dubbed the ‘Moncler pour Lionel Terray’. That same year, Moncler’s Down Jackets would be the chosen outerwear of mountain adventurers from Italy who would go on to summit K2, the second highest mountain on the planet. The next year, Moncler equipped significant mountaineering expeditions on Makalù and in Alaska.

Moncler Maya Short Down Jacket

Maya Short Down Jacket in Black

Over the next 40 years, the outerwear brand would go on to make itself a cultural titan in the country of France. The brand was named the official supplier of the French Downhill Ski Team in 1968, appearing in their first Olympic Games that year in Grenoble. From there, the brand shifted their attention from a strict sport-focus to the city, attempting to become a cultural icon in the city of Paris in the 1980s. In 2003, the company was acquired by Remo Ruffini, an Italian entrepreneur who still sits as the current chairman and CEO of the Moncler Group. 

Since their acquisition, Moncler has become renowned globally for their luxury take on outerwear. The brand delivered their first runway show in 2006 and have since enlisted premier design talent from the likes of Alessandra Facchinetti, Giambattista Valli, and American designer Thom Browne. In 2013, Moncler became a publicly traded company on the Italian Stock Exchange and in 2020, the brand acquired Stone Island, broadening the scope of their luxury offering. 

Idil Short Down Jacket in Sky Blue

What Is Moncler Famous For?

While the brand has been consistently lauded for their luxury skiwear, it is their down material and the jackets made with that material that Moncler is most famous for. Since their founding, down has been the focal point of the brand, and the company prides themselves on providing some of the highest quality and most ethical down in the world. The brand only uses the highest quality goose feather down in their jackets and makes sure that their suppliers follow not only quality guidelines but also comply with the strict standards of the Down Integrity System & Traceability (DIST) Protocol. This protocol sets out standards for animal welfare, ensuring that the down used in Moncler Jackets is cruelty free.

Moncler Lamentin Short Down Jacket

Lamentin Short Down Jacket in Bright Orange

What Makes Moncler So Expensive?

The cost of a Moncler Jacket can be primarily attributed to the fine details and luxury quality of the garment. Moncler manages most of their own production process, which includes creative ideation of collections, selection and procurement of raw materials, and development of prototypes. Moncler is quick to boast about the quality of their raw materials, making certain that they comply with the highest qualitative standards in the industry. While third-party manufacturers handle the production of the final garments, Moncler reportedly works closely with them to ensure that they’re delivering the highest quality down jacket construction in the world. It is this precise and involved commitment to quality that gives the outerwear giant the opportunity to provide some of the best down jackets on the planet and that is part of what makes them so expensive. 

Lamentin Short Down Jacket in Night Blue

Where Does Moncler’s Name Come From?

As a brand, Moncler is dedicated to both their rich heritage and forward-thinking innovations. Though the company is now Italian-owned and publicly traded on the Italian Stock Exchange, Moncler’s name is a direct reference to their deep roots in the mountains of France. Moncler’s brand name is an abbreviation of the name of the small mountain village near Grenoble in which it was founded; Monestier-de-Clermont. 

Moncler x Palm Angels

Moncler x Palm Angels Kelsey Short Down Jacket in Forest Green

What Is Moncler Genius?

Moncler’s approach to growth and innovation is given its platform at the ground level by the brand’s defining values. The Moncler Genius initiative, a long-term collaborative endeavor with eight culturally significant designers, finds itself at the crossroads of two of those values: “Embrace Crazy” and “Bring Other Voices In”. Starting in 2018, the brand enlisted the assistance of names like JW Anderson, Hiroshi Fujiwara, Craig Green, Matthew Williams, Palm Angels, and more, to experimentally re-envision the brand now and into the future. Each collaborator delivers multiple collections per year, providing their own flavor and interpretation of what they see as significant in the Moncler product offering. The 2021 Genius Palm Angels collection has been the most popular collaboration from the brand on StockX since the Italian outerwear brand was added to the catalog. 

Maya Short Down Jacket in Mauve Pink

The Brand’s Most Popular Jacket on StockX

The most popular Moncler silhouette on StockX is the Maya Short Down Jacket. The Maya Jacket gets its inspiration from the brand’s popular jackets of the 1980s and delivers a simple, yet refined silhouette. In terms of materials, the Moncler Maya Jacket features a 100% polyamide nylon laqué exterior and the brand’s celebrated goose feather down fill. The jacket delivers a traditional fit across the shoulders with a straight cut through the body and features a removable hood and a felt Moncler logo on the snap-flap pocket on the left sleeve. Moncler’s Maya Short Down Jacket is available on StockX in four different colors and can be purchased for below its retail price in some sizes.