Moncler Grenoble Fall 2026: Riding Into the Rockies

Howdy, partner.

Moncler Grenoble held its latest fashion-show-cum-mega-event in Aspen this past weekend, culminating in a fashion show atop a mountain on Saturday night that had a decidedly Western and cowboy feeling. It was perfectly on theme in a town that sprang to life in the silver boom of the late 19th century and which is now a major ski resort seeing a different explosion in wealth.

The show took place under a brilliant full moon in a bowl in the landscape called The Meadow. Guests took a 15-minute car ride from central Aspen to an area below the mountain, where they checked in and received Moncler milk chocolate brown puffer capes, wool knit hats and gloves. The result was a crowd that somewhat resembled a very chic UPS convention — but style had to be sacrificed to warmth given the temperature was only about 15 degrees Fahrenheit.

They then boarded snowmobiles for a five-minute ride up the mountain and through the woods and darkness, the only light the single headlights of the vehicles — creating a scene of zigzagging snowmobiles illuminating the winter landscape with a string of dancing headlights.

Warm chai tea, tequila and sake were on offer in Moncler Grenoble fall 2026 branded thermoses, and hand warmers and blankets were on each seat, which also had a heated cushion. The tiered seating looked out on a grove of backlit aspen trees atop a hill, which was covered in mounds of snow recreating moguls on ski slopes but also a sense of a rolling mountainous landscape.

Remo Ruffini, chairman and chief executive officer of Moncler Group, said in an interview on Friday at the Hotel Jerome on East Main Street that he was always captivated by the Aspen of earlier eras and wanted to bring “the cowboy approach” to the Grenoble collection. “We worked a lot on the history of this place. For instance, this hotel was opened in 1890 and I started from there. The most interesting approach to me was the clothes from the ’50s and ’60s. I found this period super interesting in terms of silhouette,” which focused on cinched waists and rounded volumes but reinterpreted with unique quilting.

The first set of models came out of the woods in all-white outfits, almost blending into the snowy landscape as a swirling light show meant to resemble the leaves on aspen trees undulated over the landscape to the sound of classical music. The models in the actual collection then streamed out of the trees, weaving their way down the hillside between the snowy mounds to the “runway” at the bottom below the tiered seats as an eclectic soundtrack ranging from a Western tune to classical to Kate Bush’s “Running Up That Hill” and Mazzy Star’s “Fade Into You” played.

The Western and cowboy theme was evident throughout the collection, with lots of yoked backs on jackets, piping on sleeves and trouser legs, and laser-cut fringe on quilted jackets, which also used newly developed mountain shaped or leaf shaped quilting patterns, while the majority of models sported cowboy hats.

There were lots of embroideries, embossing and intarsia, ranging from leaves and flowers to sweaters with elk, arrow or country motifs. While much of the collection is aimed to be worn on the slopes, there also was a strong après ski side to it, including wool tweed jackets and skirts, plaid flannel shirts that also could be used for layering while skiing, leaf-embossed Japanese nylon skirts and a printed cotton drill dress with a removable belt.

Fabrics and yarns included technical wool gabardine, wool denim, leather, waxed cotton, vintage corduroy, shearling, wool alpaca and printed nylon. While most of the collection was in natural tones of tan, cream, brown and white, there was the occasional pop of red and even pink. Accessories ranged from shearling bags to boot carriers to blankets with a pattern of the leisure activities one might do in Colorado. The footwear was all technical, focused on ankle or knee-high boots, some of which had a decidedly cowboy boot feeling.

It was a fun, stirring show that belied the months of work that went into it and the crowd of about 400 people — who included Kevin Costner, Tessa Thompson, Orlando Bloom, Audrey Plaza, Maria Sharapova, Adrien Brody and more, as well as about 65 journalists from around the world — was buzzing as they headed to Sno-Cats for another five-minute ride down the mountain do the T Lazy 7 Ranch for the after party.

Thompson was still excited about the show, chatting with Brody as to which outfits they might wear to rehearsals for their upcoming play “Fear of 13,” which marks both of their Broadway debuts and which begins previews in March. “I’m one of those people with the preconceived notion that winter clothes are too serious and practical and are about staying warm. But this was really beautiful with a playfulness to it that made winter clothes fun,” she said.

Shaun White, a Grenoble brand ambassador, and his company Whitespace collaborated with the brand on some of the technical equipment, including a snowboard in pink. “I was against the color at first but I have to say I now love the pink,” he said at the after party. “I can see myself rockin’ that pink come next winter. Pink is for men.”

“I don’t know if we’ll get to see things like that for much longer,” Bloom said at the after party. “I mean, the production was insane but the clothes…I’m a big fan of this Japanese brand Visvim and it was like that but another level. That was so much more than skiwear. It makes you go, ‘I kind of want to move to Aspen.’”

Even Ruffini was beaming at the after party. But then he added, “Oh, there were a few things here and there that could be improved,” before he was surrounded by a congratulatory crowd.

The Aspen event is another example of how luxury brands can no longer just do a show but must create unique experiences, at least for their VICs. Moncler wasn’t commenting on how much the three-day excursion cost, of course, but guests speculated throughout the weekend that the investment was at least $8 million to $10 million.

The three-day event featured what has become norm for these Moncler Grenoble shows — skiing, snowboarding or snowshoeing during the morning or all day, and lunches and dinners (each with their own printed menu titled “Moncler Grenoble: Fall/winter 2026 Aspen, Colorado, USA”). The snowshoeing was along a loop in the Hunter Creek area, with tours led by staff from the Aspen Center for Environmental Studies, who briefed groups on the flora and fauna in the region. Lunches were at the Hotel Jerome, Sant’Ambreous and Casa Tua, the latter of which on a perfect blue sky day on Saturday afternoon drew the likes of Costner, Brody, Sharapova, Thompson, White and more.

The gala dinner Friday night was at the Caribou Club, Aspen’s first members-only club that opened in 1990. It has the air of a Western home crossed with Ralph Lauren’s Polo Bar: Think antler chandeliers, cowboy and nature paintings covering the walls; tartan rugs, and black-and-white photos of famous people in Aspen over the years.

The gala dinner was the first event where celebrities turned out but it also was filled with Moncler VICs, many speaking Italian. Ruffini didn’t sit at a table, but wandered the room all night long greeting the guests as friends (many of whom were). He regretted not being able to do any skiing during the weekend’s activities after hurting his leg in New York. “I only hope it’s a week and then I can be skiing again,” he said, admitting he already has skied several times in Saint Moritz since December.

The Aspen show was a firm indicator of two things for Moncler: Ruffini’s belief in the potential of the Moncler Grenoble line, and the importance of the U.S. market to Moncler, where it sees huge opportunity, and which will be the company’s focus in 2026. Its biggest move will be the opening of a 24,000-square-foot store in Manhattan, its largest in the world, later this year in the former FAO Schwarz building. The company currently has 41 stores in the U.S. The Americas generated sales of 379 million euros for Moncler in 2026, out of its total revenues of 2.7 billion euros. Overall group revenues, including Stone Island, totaled 3.1 billion euros in 2024, the most recent year-end figures available.

Ruffini thinks the trends are moving in the right direction for Moncler to make a bigger push into America. After COVID-19, more people are eager to spend time outside and outside of cities, even to shop. He also believes that luxury retail and hospitality are not as developed among U.S. ski resorts as they are in, say, Saint Moritz, Gstaad, Courchevel and other European locations.

“Aspen is different in Europe because we all go to the same places — Saint Moritz, Courcheval, Cortina; they are a few hours’ drive away,” Ruffini said. “But in Aspen, it’s far so you see a different customer every week.”

The key for Moncler, though, is to increase awareness of the brand among U.S. consumers.

“We are known but not as well here,” he admitted, adding that its own stores help in that regard, especially given the challenges of wholesale distribution — hinting at the bankruptcy of Saks Global, which has been a key retail partner for Moncler.

“We never discount products because we are not a fashion product or trendy; our products can last for 10 years or more,” he said. “It is very difficult to convince wholesale to hold the price, which is why I really like to have my own stores.

“We try to have a different relation in this country, better relation and try also to make some investments to help people to understand our brands, understand our collections, our culture, understand our DNA. But step by step, I think. We are not in a rush, we want to make the right moment. Top line is very important but it is more important to be a strong brand.”

Ruffini clearly has a soft spot for Aspen given the Colorado ski town haven for the wealthy was the location of Moncler’s first U.S. store, which opened in 2008 after he had visited the town several times in prior years. “It is like a different snow than in Europe and changes more often,” he said in a group interview the day before the show, adding that Domenico De Sole, former CEO of Gucci Group, also urged him to open a store in Aspen before New York (partially because De Sole had a house in Aspen).

Moncler used the show’s timing for two major initiatives related to Grenoble. The first was a preview of the Augustinus Bader and Moncler Grenoble partnership that will be introduced later this year, joining its existing deal for fragrances and candles with Inter Parfums. A co-branded version of Augustinus Bader’s The Sunscreen SPF 50 was given to guests at the show in a 15ml size in a white metal canister, while the box containing the sun screen comes in white quilted bag with Moncler’s signature red, white and blue logo.

The other initiative was the opening of a Grenoble store, only the second in the world for the brand after Saint Moritz, which opened in 2024. The 2,700-square-foot store is a testament to Ruffini’s love of the mountains — “It is in my DNA and the brand’s DNA,” he said. The store is smack in the center of town on East Hyman Avenue and across the street from that original Moncler unit, three blocks from East Main Street at the beginning of what would be considered Aspen’s luxury shopping district, which counts brands ranging from Zegna and Dior to Louis Vuitton, Loro Piana, Brunello Cucinelli, Fusalp, Arc’teryx and more. But there are signs of how, while it’s changing, Aspen is still firmly hanging on to its heritage. The new Grenoble store is across the street from the Ute Mountaineer store — Ute was the city’s original name — and not far from the always packed Kemo Sabe, where visitors snap up cowboy hats, belt buckles and cowboy boots.

The Grenoble store is in an 1890s building with six large windows on one side and seven on the other. Inside it’s dark and moody, like a winter’s storm — but, during the weekend, packed with customers snapping up merchandise.

The Aspen flagship, like Saint Moritz, was designed by Swiss studio Küchel Architects, which also designed Ruffini’s house in Saint Moritz, and uses lights and shadows to guide customers through a series of spaces, beginning with a cave-like entrance meant to evoke Moncler’s mountaineering heritage. The entrance was created from 260 tons of crushed granite and white quartz from the Maggia Valley in Switzerland. There are several different kinds of wood used throughout, including oak flooring, and briarwood seating.

A sculpture of a tree is a focal point, surrounded by a circular bench that also offers seating and a display platform. Circular bays topped with domes of larch shingles display the collection, while wrought iron “branches” are used to display accessories.

The store carries the collection shown in Saint Moritz last February, as well as the core Grenoble line.

Now, for Ruffini, the question is where to next hold a Moncler Grenoble show after two in Europe and the first in the U.S. He does see the need to do a show for the brand every year now, and indicated there are plenty of possibilities for locations. And even as he sees the need to build Moncler Grenoble — and Moncler in general — into a four-seasons-a-year brand, for now he wants to focus shows in winter locations.

“Now I think the best snow is in Japan,” he said. “All the Niseko area is very, very strong. then there is northern Europe; I think Finland is an interesting place. There are so many. Also China had no ski resort and then opened over 25 resorts in three years. Also, I love the Dolomites in Italy. Canada is super interesting especially because of the fresh snow, the powder snow.”

He paused and then added, smiling, “The idea is to really build up a journey all around the world.”