6/13​ ​- The place is Florence, Italy. In keeping with the men's fashion festival, Pitti Uomo,​ ​Moncler's new project​ ​'MONCLER GENIUS'​ ​made it’s official debut. On the eve of the launch of first collection​ ​'7 Moncler Fragment​ ​Hiroshi Fujiwara', a large-scale launch event was held at the Bargello Museum of Art. We closely followed Hiroshi Fujiwara that day for​ ​24​ ​hours who dropped in from Milan for this event.

Photo, Shoichi Kajino | Edit & Text, Mio Koumura

6/13 -15:30

We arrived in Florence from Milan at 12 o'clock, and after checking in at the hotel Fujiwara headed off to​ ​the first Florence store Moncler just opened in January, 2018. While doing interviews with overseas media, he checks the line-up on display by the entrance to the venue.

'7 Moncler Fragment​ ​Hiroshi Fujiwara'​ ​release dates will be split in two. At the Launch, items with the overriding iconic slogan "BACKSTAGE" printed on the back were lined up. “There are no coats!” spots Fujiwara. Only a very small number of the first drop signature coat are being produced, but a few of these will be available and will arrive at the shop tomorrow.

-17:30
Store staff call us over in between interviews and shooting the group photo began. There is a cheerful mood in the store.

-18:20
After the last interview finishes we grab a quick coffee, heading to well-known cafe ‘Giuri' which opened in 1733 on Piazza della Repubblica just outside the store.

–19:10
A pre-event is also held at the store from 7pm today. Press and buyers who came for Pitti visit to see the collection ahead of schedule along with local customers and the venue soon becomes a hive of activity. Men could be seen trying things on there and then regardless of nationality. Fujiwara is caught in a blaze of photography to the side of the collection.

-20:50
As the party is overflowing with lots of customers toward the end, the number of people talking with each other outside the store has increased. Among them are people wearing logo hoodies to be released at a later date. I overhear they’re both designers, developing the project together.

–21:40
Finally to the Bargello Museum which will be the venue for the main event. We go through the entrance to the courtyard which is the main venue, with posters spread out like a concert venue. A DJ booth, the collection, a monitor that displays films, and a bar counter, were all arranged to surround the courtyard with the hall lit up red. The historic house was morphed into "back stage" for one night only.

Available tomorrow # MonclerFragment in @ moncler stores and @ matches_man

A post shared byfujiwarahiroshi(@ fujiwarahiroshi) onJun 13, 2018 at 2: 45 pm PDT

Also attending are Moncler’s chairman and CEO Remo Ruffini, skateboarder Shinpei Ueno, and music producer Steve Aoki.

-23:50
Even though it was almost midnight, the party is still in full swing. Fujiwara, who left the venue ahead of the event, says "I am so happy we opened with such a large party". Regardless of being busy, he walks back to the hotel with a spring in his step.

6/14 -10:10
The next day, after breakfast, we head of and check on how the shop is doing. New stock arrives just before the launch, and in there we find the beige coat that will be limited to Isetan in Japan. Apparently, that store’s special item sold out almost immediately.

-11:45
It has been 24 hours since I arrived in Florence. The last scene before leaving for the next location is in front of the hotel is Ponte Vecchio, the oldest bridge in Florence. Luckily, as a first collection, I had a glimpse of seeing ‘MONCLER GENIUS’ begin without incident.

◼️MONCLER GENIUS schedule
August 22nd: 5 Moncler Craig Green
Early September: 2 Moncler 1952
Late September: 4 Moncler Simone Rocha
Early October: Moncler Genius pop-up stores will open for a limited period in Tokyo and New York (8 Moncler Palm Angels will launch the same time as the pop-up opening)
Mid-October: 1 Moncler Pierpaolo Piccioli
Early November: 3 Moncler Grenoble