Of course, Moncler’s outdoor show would have to happen on the coldest day of fashion week.
Moncler makes winter wear for wealthy people, so it made sense that they would choose the Wollman Rink in Central Park for their presentation.
Ice skating is a hobby I’ve always associated with rich folks, but maybe that’s because I’m from a part of the Midwest where immaculately manicured rinks don’t exist.
The closest I got to my childhood figure skating dream was a gig as a roller-skating waitress at a 50s-themed restaurant.
Of course, Moncler’s outdoor show would have to happen on the coldest day of fashion week and after sundown to boot. I sighed happily when I first caught a glimpse of the rink, which was all lit up, glowing icy blue and orange and red in the night.
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Pretty, but the blue lighting always reminds me of a bad wedding hall, just a bit. Anyway, lighting critiques aside…
On to the photo pool. The check-in people told me that’s where I had to stand.
I was walked onto the grounds and directed past the warm, glowing orange heat lamps. I continued past the stands, offering free hot cocoa. The stands were meant to warm the hands of the millionaire Manhattanite families. These families make up Moncler’s core clientele. Finally, I reached the back. A set of tiny wooden platforms housed a huddle of miserable, freezing photographers. Our heat lamps were all broken.
Just when I started cursing my trusty Spiewak parka for not keeping me warm enough and wishing it was a Moncler, the show began.
It started out slowly with a few figures in black skating on a quiet rink. Soon, a choir clothed in red, white, and blue puffa jackets kicked in, singing an acapella version of “New York, New York,” and a bunch of happy figures dressed in all white took to the ice.
There were lifts, spins, and all sorts of other things I don’t know the technical terms for since I haven’t watched figure skating since I was about 12.
Look at them; don’t they look happy and wealthy and warm? Doesn’t it make you wish you were them? Seriously, you’ve got to hand it to the people at Moncler.
Making people come out in the cold to watch your presentation on winter and ski wear is pretty genius. Who isn’t going to want what the models are wearing by the end?
The synchronized skating continued in different colorways to M.I.A.’s “Bad Girls” until there was one big happy family of rosy-cheeked people decked in red, white, and blue grooving on ice skates. It abruptly ended when everyone dropped dead.
Just kidding.
Let’s just say these two young gentlemen were just as magic as any promotional ice-skating event ever.
Vibe: Being outside is in.
