Moncler Genius launches Edward Enninful’s first move into fashion design

Moncler has been making a big impact with its Genius offer for quite a few years, especially of late when it has linked up with a number of big names and cultural influencers. And its latest partnership? Former British Vogue editor-in-chief Edward Enninful.

For his debut Genius collection, the editor, stylist, and “cultural contributor” envisions the wardrobe for a “fashionable global adventurer: a bold hero equipped to navigate extreme terrains, from sun-scorched dunes to windswept shores and snow-capped peaks”. 

Enninful recently launched his global media and entertainment company, EE72, and that business “embarks on a new chapter of storytelling and collaboration, with Moncler as its very first co-creator”.

It’s Enninful’s first foray into fashion design and we’re told his creations are all about “high-fashion attitude meets supreme function meets forward-thinking modularity. That sensibility is woven into every piece of the collection, which fuses Moncler’s technical expertise and ability to seamlessly navigate the elements — epitomised by puffer structures and boudin quilting — with structured shoulders and couture-inspired silhouettes”.

Each look was designed to “brave one of the three elements Enninful envisioned”.

That means a trench coat for windstorms with a matte finish and sleek silhouette offset by a removable outer puffer in glossy nylon laqué. The outer jacket can be detached and carried like a backpack using its interior straps.

For sandstorms, there’s a slim scuba dress worn with a sculptural hooded cape and a floor-sweeping scarf (which the company said are “daring nods to Moncler’s puffer heritage”).

Snowstorms inspire a layered approach via a finely knit wool turtleneck beneath a cardigan dress and oversized merino wool jacket. The look is completed with a balaclava and Trailgrip EE72 boots.

It’s all supported by a campaign shot by Tyler Mitchell and starring South Sudanese-Australian model Adut Akech. Mitchell worked closely with Enninful “to merge his immersive world-building with the designer’s fantastical vision”. 

The result is said to be “a spellbinding vision of shifting sands and crystalline snow. In each image, Akech embodies a fearless hero navigating raw, remote, and visually arresting terrain — the perfect stage for a collection defined by layered silhouettes, dynamic styling, and a readiness for the unknown”.

The collection is being brought to life at the start of New York Fashion Week with a window installation at Saks Fifth Avenue’s New York Flagship in an immersive display that unfolds across seven windows located on 5th Avenue and 50th street. 

The display evokes shifting mountain landscapes, with three windows featuring dunes, three showing snow-capped peaks, and the centre window “featuring a mesmerising collision of sand and snow”. 

To celebrate the unveiling of the installation, on Wednesday, live runway models dressed in styles from the Moncler x EE72 by Edward Enninful collection will be featured in the windows, walking and interacting with high-definition video panels depicting the mountainous environs, which will then be replaced by mannequins the following day.