Moncler Genius project has secured its reputation as a roving hub of collaboration, tapping gold-star creatives from around the globe over the course of eight-plus hybrid collections. But Moncler 1952, an auxiliary collection under the Genius umbrella but designed in-house, stays local, drawing inspiration from the brand’s visual history as interpreted by Moncler’s own Sergio Zambon and Veronica Leoni. Though “1952” stands for the year of the brand’s founding, 2 Moncler 1952 + Valextra channels the 1980s—a golden age for Milanese street-style. 

Later dubbed “Paninaro” and immortalized in a Pet Shop Boys song of the same name, this streetwear movement was synonymous with Moncler’s maximalist puffers, as Zambon, designer of menswear, told us yesterday at the collection’s New York launch. “‘Paninaro’ was the first big success for Moncler; [everyone was] wearing it,” he says. “For [this collection], I kept going back to that feeling.” 

But as recalled by Sara Ferrero of Valextra, the leather brand behind the drop’s bag range, the Paninaro craze wasn’t all fun and games: “When we were in school in Italy, you had to be pretty fashionable! You had to wear Moncler, with Timberlands and socks,” she says. “If you weren’t dressed in the proper way, then you were an outsider. It was a little extreme…” 

Reflecting the hopefully-more-relaxed norms of latter-day street style, 2 Moncler 1952 has subtle nods to non-homogeneity, from a men’s sweater emblazoned with “Freak,” to womenswear designer Veronica Leoni’s collaboration with crafty duo Itchy Scratchy Patchy, made up of model Edie Campbell and artist Christabel MacGreevy, whom the former Celine hand calls her “two crazy London girls.” 

Says Leoni: “When we were planning this collection, we said, ‘Let’s go back to female heroes—that was the dissertation, [if you will].” Affixing various female figures from antiquity to plaid puffers and tri-color motorcycle jackets, Leoni adds an unexpected layer to this Italy-proud collection. “Placing them on the garment was a way of making you feel empowered, and also invert the male gaze,” she says. “We needed [a message]. There are big challenges that designers have to engage with, and Moncler is a nice place to do that.”

See inside the 2 Moncler 1952 + Valextra launch party below.