Once Upon a Time a Snowflake Fell for a Polar Bear—At a Moncler Gamme Rouge Show

We’ve shaken the Vogue Runway archive like a snow globe. When the glistening flakes settled, the very best winter wonderland shows were revealed. We’re sharing them, one by one, over eight days. Day five: Giambattista Valli’s Fall 2013 Moncler Gamme Rouge collection, presented on March 5, 2013, in Paris.

“Neither snow nor rain nor wind machine can keep the Moncler Gamme Rouge girl from her sporty-chic outerwear,” observed Nicole Phelps. During Giambattista Valli’s years designing the line, the sets got more elaborate; when snow wasn’t falling on the runway, petals were. All the stops were pulled out for the Fall 2013 presentation—topping even the working chairlift of an earlier outing. As models entered the runway through an “iceberg,” an intrepid sportsman zip-lined over them. There was, of course, the requisite fake snowstorm, through which hunks with huskies made their way. The icing on the cake, or should we say icicle on the eave, was the finale, when women in ice princess looks were escorted around the set by a well-mannered sleuth of polar bears. (Dress code: white tail.)

Valli told reviewer Tim Blanks that he had envisioned “a love story between a snowflake and a polar bear.” But the real romance here was with the clothes—and with myriad winter (fashion) tropes. The romantic capes could have walked out of an illustrated fairy tale or, as Blanks noted, Game of Thrones—Valli mixed real fur with fur prints. There were also down pieces with more of an active vibe, offered in solid, check, and winter white. Moncler products are designed for performance, but it’s how they transition stylishly off-slope that has given them enviable street cred.