The Moncler Gamme Rouge show ended with a parade of models in red riding coats escorted by dancers dressed as Queen s Guard soldiers. It was the type of campy grand finale that, on the final day of Paris fashion week, could have been a hallucination (Instagram, thankfully, confirms the contrary). But even the main attraction, enhanced by fog-machine vapors curling through a simulated forest floor, positioned the collection as something more than your everyday equestrian outing.
Backstage, designer Giambattista Valli explained that the horsey milieu—from traditional British hunting attire to stylized jockey-esque uniforms—provided a more tailored template for Moncler s elevated range. Traditional tweeds, tartan, and mohair checks were transposed onto tech fabrics or spliced with luxe tinted skins. Despite additional constants—black knee-padded leggings, tightly tied scarves, bowl-shaped helmets—no two looks showed the same mix of layering, shearling patchwork, and skirt volume, as if defiantly countering the brand s core offering. Heraldic prints, mixed-material camouflage, fox panels like fluffy pony hair, and even a trompe l oeil gold chain belt with a stable key ticked off any remaining tropes—minus an actual horse.
Footwear, interestingly, dictated attitude, so flat barn boots corresponded to a sportier mod style, while a no-nonsense platform boot conjured a pedigreed provocateur. But because rain does not favor one archetype over the other, tinted transparent raincoats (and rain skirts!) bridged the divide and offered a new retail novelty that will perform well. As for the heat-sealed embroidered flowers ornamenting shoulders and dusting gilets, Valli said he sought to simulate petals falling from tree blossoms during a ride through the woods. In the end, a couture touch proved more evocative than a bearskin.
