The latest "Middle-Class Harvester", the Moncler down jacket priced at 20,000 yuan each.

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A grand show that cost 200 million yuan and made its debut in Shanghai has made Moncler (also known as "Mengkou") popular.

This brand, which has a history of 72 years, has evolved from providing high-performance equipment for outdoor sports enthusiasts to successfully entering the luxury market. Since almost the 1980s, Moncler has been the absolute king in down products, and even during the two most popular years of Canada Goose, its position has not been shaken. Moncler has the titles of "The Emperor of Down" and "The Hermès of Down Jackets", and it is also a ten-thousand-yuan-level brand that is particularly favored by middle-aged men, apart from the "Three Treasures of the Middle Class".

On one hand, there is the booming sales situation of the Beijing SKP store with over 100 million yuan in a single store. On the other hand, there is a sudden downward trend in the latest quarterly financial report, amid the huge contrast between reality and figures, what kind of a luxury down jacket is Moncler?

As a luxury down jacket, there is no competitor

A brand promotion activity with a budget of 200 million yuan was dismantled after a shining night.

● Moncler "Genius City" Show Poster

However, the videos and pictures shared by nearly 10,000 celebrities, bloggers, and VIP customers (VIC) on social media platforms, as well as the live broadcast with over 57 million views can prove that it is a big show worthy of a case study for all brands this year - Moncler, which was invested by LVMH at the end of September, has once again become a hit. Social media audiences in Shanghai and even the whole country have actively or passively learned about this luxury down jacket brand in a very positive way.

Born in France and headquartered in Italy, Moncler made its grand appearance as the finale of the Shanghai 2025 Spring/Summer Fashion Week on October 19. It generously built a 30,000-square-meter "Genius City (Moncler Genius)" at the former site of the World Expo in the China Shipping Pavilion along the Huangpu River, and invited 10 creative individuals including fashion, music, art, technology, and design to create 10 blocks to showcase their collaborative series, including:

Mirroring 2024

Fujiwara Hiroshi, Richard Wilson

Fujiwara Hiroshi

The spatial installation named "Mirroring 2024" brought by Japanese trendsetter Fujiwara Hiroshi and British sculptor Richard Wilson. The thick black liquid in the huge disc below mirror-reflects the Moncler x FRGMT (a street culture design company founded by Fujiwara Hiroshi) series of clothing hanging above. Some netizens commented that it is like a colorless planet in "Dune 2", quiet and solemn;

The Weather Station that Condenses Time

Edward Enninful

Edward Enninful

A weather station in extreme conditions created by Edward Enninful, the first male editor-in-chief of British Vogue. It changes from a heat wave to a snowy landscape in an instant, and the models wearing the Moncler x Edward Enninful series walk among them, with details so delicate that even their fingertips are trembling;

The Dialogue between Architecture and Fashion

Rick Owens

Rick Owens

American designer Rick Owens, who visited the Forbidden City in Beijing before the Shanghai show but was persuaded to leave due to his overly "horrifying" makeup and styling, constructed a mountain-top shelter with an all-steel structure. The densely radiating quilting on the collaborative series of clothing is filled with a futuristic atmosphere.

That night, all the trendy people in Shanghai gathered outside the blocks of the "Genius City" to wait in line for the visit. Among them, you might pass by Anne Hathaway, Shu Qi, Dou Jingtong, Wei Daxun, Mica... Rihanna and her husband A$AP Rock were also kissing sweetly not far away.

Some people say that Moncler held a temple fair, while others say it built a Disneyland. In short, once the big show was launched, not to mention compared with other down jacket brands, even in the fashion brand category, it can compete. Whether it is the theme creativity and planning of the event, or the on-site execution and scheduling of the staff, it is in a "different atmosphere".

Xiaohongshu blogger @Jiang Baobao, who has been a buyer for more than ten years, told Tide: "As a luxury down jacket, Moncler has never had an opponent." He explained, "There is no 'two top chairs' in clothing brands. For example, when it comes to trench coats, you will think of Burberry; when it comes to overcoats, you will think of MaxMara, and when it comes to down jackets, you will not think of a second brand, only Moncler. Don't mention Canada Goose and the like. First of all, it is not a luxury brand. Secondly, even during its most popular two years, Canada Goose could not beat Moncler."

● MaxMara's classic 101801 coat,图源@MaxMara

In 2023, Moncler's sales reached 2.57 billion euros, an increase of 19% year-on-year. The Asian region, mainly the Chinese market, performed particularly well, accounting for 50.2% of the total revenue. In comparison, the sales revenue of the LVMH Group increased by 9% year-on-year last year, and Hermès increased by 15.7% year-on-year, both with lower growth rates than Moncler.

Although it is a seasonal category, Moncler has managed to support its annual revenue with the money earned in half a year, and it doesn't worry even if it "lies flat" in summer.

Every year, people start to inquire about the goods from the end of August, and the sizes are out of stock around November, which lasts until the Lunar New Year. These six months are the hot seasons for Jiang Baobao to "make money by relying on Moncler" - with an average of more than 20 inquiries and about 15 shipments per day, He jokingly calls himself a "wholesaler of Italian specialties", and adds: "I don't feel anything about luxury or not. It's just like milk and bread in the supermarket."

● Jiang Baobao's daily checkout volume,图源@Jiang Baobao

Yes, such a scene almost makes people forget that Moncler is a brand with the titles of "The Emperor of Down" and "The Hermès of Down Jackets". The prices of its down products are basically concentrated around 10,000 to 20,000 yuan, which is a real luxury price.

Why is it so expensive?

Among a group of Moncler consumers, Jiang Baobao found that this brand is particularly popular among middle-aged men with financial strength.

He believes that this is due to the public consensus on the Moncler brand, that is, it is a very normal thing to choose Moncler after having a certain economic foundation. For example, if you see a person intentionally or unintentionally showing off the 7,000-yuan Hermès "H" belt around his waist, you might think he is showing off his wealth. But if he is wearing a 14,900-yuan Moncler down jacket, you will not have a very negative evaluation of him, and you will not think that he is deliberately following the trend or showing off something.

● Moncler's men's clothing

This may be because people know that the high price of Moncler is justified.

In 1952, Moncler was founded by two outdoor sports enthusiasts, René Ramillon and Andrè Vincent, focusing on the production of high-performance outdoor sports equipment including down jackets, targeting professionals such as mountaineers and skiers. Due to its excellent performance, it was selected as the official equipment for the Italian expedition to climb the Karakoram in 1954 and became the team uniform of the French ski team in 1968.

● The French ski team uniform in 1968

Moncler's choice of down materials is truly top luxury. Compared with duck down with a production volume of three seasons a year, Moncler uses goose down that is produced only once a year, and only selects the top-quality goose down from Hungary and the southern Brittany and Périgord regions in France.

This kind of down, known as "duvet neuf" or "four-flake down" (the down between the neck and the chest and abdomen), is very precious and rare, and is also called "Four-Piece Goose Down".

Four-Piece Goose Down

Because this part of the down is often immersed in water, it not only has water resistance, but also has the best warmth and cold resistance ability among all the body hair, which can make the warmth of the clothing reach 85%. Coupled with fewer down stems and longer fibers, it is extremely soft, and the fluffiness even reaches 800F (Fluffiness refers to "How big can 100 grams of down fluff up". The fluffiness of daily down jackets is between 450 - 500F, and the fluffiness of outdoor down jackets is about 650F).

The combination of high-quality down and Moncler's filling technology accurate to every square centimeter is also the reason why their down jackets are warm without looking bulky, with a weight as light as 160 grams (for women's clothing) and 220 grams (for men's clothing).

Under a note on Xiaohongshu asking "Why is Moncler so expensive?", a netizen shared his own experience: "In 2013, I bought the first one in Munich; in 2014, I bought the second one in Sanlitun North District. Only these two, 10 years have passed, no down leakage, no deformation, and the first one is still often used as a ski suit and is still very wearable. As long as there is no颠覆性 failure in my life, I will only buy Moncler."

In this way, Moncler, which has been recognized by the majority of consumers in terms of functionality, began its collaboration with many designers in the 1980s, launching more lightweight, high-saturation color, fashionable and design-oriented down jackets.

● Moncler down jacket in the 1980s