By Casey Hall
SHANGHAI (Reuters) – Luxury clothing maker Moncler showcased its latest celebrity collaborations in a series of pavilions built inside an old shipyard in downtown Shanghai on Saturday as it looks to shrug off the sector’s global malaise.
More than 8,000 guests were on hand for “The City of Genius” event, which featured separate pavilions for each of this year’s Moncler Genius collection collaborators – a list that includes high profile names such as A$AP Rocky, Edward Enninful, Willow Smith and Rick Owens.
Moncler Genius has since 2018 invited creators from various fashion, music, and artistic fields to co-create collections that put their own spin on Moncler’s down jackets and this year saw the collections variously showcased in runway shows, modelled in elaborate garden settings, and on a go-kart racetrack.
The event arrives in Shanghai as the luxury world braces for a slowdown due in part to China’s slowing economy and consumer pullback.
France’s LVMH, a bellwether for the luxury sector, on Tuesday reported a 3% fall in third-quarter sales.
Moncler, however, has been outperforming luxury competitors this year, with revenue up 11% in the first half and double- digit growth among Chinese consumers shopping both at home and abroad. The firm is yet to report third-quarter results.
“China is a very good market,” Moncler Chief Executive Remo Ruffini said at a press conference prior to Saturday’s event. “[The luxury market] is volatile, you know, but … I’m sure in five years, China will be much bigger than it is today.”
Last month Ruffini tightened his control of the group after striking a deal with LVMH, which purchased a 10% stake in Double R, the investment vehicle controlled by the Moncler CEO, enabling Double R to up its stake in Moncler from 15.8% to 18.5% over the next 18 months.
(Reporting by Casey Hall; Editing by David Holmes)
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