Moncler CEO Remo Ruffini can’t help but smile when he talks about Aspen. Sitting in the bar of the cozy Hotel Jerome — a rustic, boutiquey spot that dates back to 1890 — Ruffini marvels at the Colorado ski town’s clientele compared to the Alpine skier. “I really love this approach — the cowboy approach.”
Plenty of Aspen’s ski bunnies don cowboy hats as they mill about town, so I didn’t realize that Ruffini’s comment was a teaser for the Moncler Grenoble runway show the following night, where the cowboy aesthetic took hold. Fringe, bandanas, shearling, plaid button downs and wide brimmed hats made up much of the collection. One model tipped his cap to his passing compadre on the runway.
The show was nestled in a valley within the Rocky Mountains, at T-Lazy-7 Ranch, accessible only by snowmobile or skis. Some 400 guests were ferried via personal snowmobile, weaving through the woods under a full moon, to the remote runway marked by sloping snow mounds, upon which models wearing a mix of puffer coats, ski suits, collared shirts and mountain boots perched. Stars like Kevin Costner, Adrien Brody, Penn Badgley, Maria Sharapova (who also sits on Moncler’s board of directors), Tessa Thompson, Aubrey Plaza and Orlando Bloom joined editors and clients for the show, which was opened by Gigi Hadid, followed by an after party at the nearby lodge, where a bluegrass band played to a full house.
Aspen is so special to Ruffini that he’s chosen it as the home for the second-ever store dedicated to Moncler Grenoble, the brand’s performance ski and aprés-ski line. It’s also Moncler’s second store in Aspen. (The first, which opened in 2008 and was Moncler’s first US store, is right across the street.)
The skiwear business has become a point of investment for Moncler Group, which reported €1.84 billion in sales for the first nine months of 2025, flat year-on-year (the company will report its full year earnings on February 19). It began hosting a Grenoble runway show in 2024 in Saint Moritz — home to the first dedicated store — followed by Courchevel last year (it’s this collection that’s currently on sale in the store). This time, it fled the Alps for Aspen, a sign of Moncler’s ongoing investment in the US, where sales rose 5% in the third quarter, outpacing general group sales and other markets. A new Fifth Avenue flagship in New York will also open this year.
“The brand is known, but not as well known as in Europe,” says Ruffini. “We’re trying to have a different relationship with this country, a better relationship. We’re trying to make some investments [for consumers] to understand the brand, understand our collection, understand our culture, understand our DNA. But thinking step by step — there’s no rush.”
Ruffini says Moncler plans to reach 30 to 35 stores in the US, a preferred expansion method for the brand in today’s retail climate. “Wholesale is quite difficult at the moment, as you know,” he says. “Our retail chain is super important — we can stay attuned to the customer, improving our clienteling approach. And then, I always say, we never discount products. In terms of fashion, we are not trend [driven], which means our product can last for 10 years. So you don’t want to discount.” He mentions Austin as one US city where Moncler has ground to gain.
As to whether the US market’s unpredictability — in terms of tariff policy and political unrest — is any cause for concern, Ruffini is unfazed. “It’s not a big problem,” he says. It helps the brand’s position that the price stays in step with the product quality, he adds. “For me, it’s very important not to fly up the price like crazy.”
Grenoble’s ambitions, meanwhile, are global. Ski business is booming for fashion brands, and Moncler is a frontrunner fashion brand investing in gear that’s both technical and stylish for the slopes. Last season, it perfected a performance denim material that, in action, is like a ski suit in disguise. The new collection featured more of that technical denim, plus tweed, jacquard and floral embroidery. Performance comes first: Norwegian-Brazilian skier Lucas Pinheiro Braathen, who will head to Milan next week for the Winter Olympics, has worked with Moncler to test pieces. The store brings all of those pieces into one place, with accessories, boots, cable knit sweaters and anything else shoppers might need for the mountain and after. The cavernous space is a redesigned bank, complete with a tree trunk centerpiece made out of real cedar trees. One Aspen local and Moncler client said he’d never seen anything like it done in the town before.
Ruffini chalks up the popularity of skiwear to a change in consumer priorities, as luxury clients shift spending from clothes and bags to travel and wellness. “It’s experience,” Ruffini says. “Everybody says experience is more important than possessions. I feel confident, because rigor for me is super important. Quality is everything.”
Where might Moncler take its annual ski show from here? Japanese ski town Niseko is the first possibility Ruffini mentions, with eyes also on China (a market outpacing others alongside the US), Canada and Finland.
It’s Ruffini’s last ski outing as group CEO: on January 20, the company announced Bartolomeo Rangone would take over the role, effective April 1. Ruffini will transition to executive chairman. He’ll have to meet the high bar set by the Grenoble experience in the past three years. During the weekend, Ruffini was taking it all in — but not on the slopes, thanks to a recent injury. As the festivities wound down, late Saturday night into Sunday morning, despite many attendees scheduled for the first flight out of Aspen the next morning, editors and clients mused that it was one of the most high-end brand trips they’d been invited to.
It tracks with Ruffini’s take on where luxury is headed — toward experience, good customer service and hospitality. Good food and drink (the weekend’s itinerary took guests to local hotspots like the members-only Caribou Club for dinner and the newly opened Casa Tua for a leisurely après-ski lunch) are things that Moncler’s clients value, so the brand needs to be delivering that, Ruffini argues. “Hospitality is very important, now in our business. It’s obvious, but the experience is everything.”
Other luxury brands have noted this, diving headfirst into the world of cafes, restaurants, hotels and even residences. Moncler is so at home in the mountains — could there be a slope-side hotel in the future, perhaps in Aspen? “Let’s see. Interesting,” Ruffini says.
