Cocooning

Image courtesy of Rick Owens and Moncler.

In his third collaboration with European luxury brand Moncler, Rick Owens goes off-the-grid. Last week, the two unveiled a capsule mountain refuge, a small demountable house inspired by French architects Charlotte Perriand and Jean Prouvé. To accompany it? A wardrobe also engineered to wrap one with warmth and withstand severe winter weather conditions. Extremes being no stranger to either brand—Moncler outfitted the first expedition to summit K2 in 1954—the creative relationship is a natural one, now in its fourth year. Each successive collaboration outfits more drastic environments, all inspired by Earthly cocoons.

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Their original partnership, an aesthetically-honed tour bus, took Owens and his wife Michèle Lamy west in 2020, first home to LA after an 18-year hiatus and then to Nevada to visit land artist Michael Heizer’s then in-progress masterwork, City, 1970-2022. The second joint project, a steel sleeping chamber made for two that was released last year, was designed to cradle its user: to both protect from and completely hush the outside world. Each construction is accompanied by a line of clothing tailor-made for its respective space, inspired by the warmth and protection a chrysalis can provide. The latest example is no exception.

Image courtesy of Rick Owens and Moncler.

While cocoons are naturally woven from silk, this new structure is forged from steel. It is energetically self-sustaining, powered by solar panels on the roof and ground, as well as a wind turbine. Heat is ensured by 20 thermally insulated panels, a wood stove, and electric heaters. Its interior is lined with the signature Moncler duvet and felted wool blankets. Hugh Broughton Architects, a firm that designed an Antarctic research center, consulted on the project to ensure the structure’s integration of advanced technology.

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Classically Owens in its utilitarianism, the accompanying collection imagines largely black, white, and mauve gear built to endure the extreme weather of a futuristic tundra-scape—a climate not dissimilar to that of the mountain village where Moncler was born. The collection’s foundation is an all-encompassing thermal layer made of organic cotton. Duvet snowsuits zip up to become sleeping bags and zip down to shed a pair of arms that hang from the waist like a pair of insect legs. And capes both sweep back and hover above the ground like an epic, undrawn pair of wings.

Image courtesy of Rick Owens and Moncler.

Hallmark patterns of past collaborations between Rick Owens and Moncler are featured throughout, including radiant quilting that mimics rays of sunlight emanating from the garments’ centers. The partnership’s third renewal dives deeper into space-creation to imagine both lodging and looks for the harshest winter weather. And what better way to spend a storm than wrapped in a chrysalis of fabric.