MILAN — Remo Ruffini describes himself as “a self-taught man.”
He must be one prime teacher, as he has grown Moncler from a dwindling brand that reported sales of around 50 million euros in 2003 into an international powerhouse that is part of a publicly listed group with revenues of 3.13 billion euros in 2025 and 8,000 employees around the world.
Ruffini learned the ropes by venturing into the fashion world with a brand that he invented in the 1980s and called New England, influenced by his fascination with Boston, Martha’s Vineyard and Hyannis Port, “the world of the Kennedys,” he reminisced during an interview at his sprawling Milan office in the new headquarters inaugurated a year ago. Casa Moncler spans over a total area of 829,000 square feet, a six-floor building housing 800 employees; a double-height, 48,400-square-foot showroom with a shed roof, and a surrounding landscaped green.
“The question I have always asked myself is, ‘will I learn something from this person?’” Ruffini said of his industry encounters, asked to comment on his personal trajectory in fashion starting with the New England brand, which he sold in 2001. “I have had a long apprenticeship and I have never forgotten its steps, the good and the bad.”
This practical and hands-on approach continues to forge his strategies, leading to Moncler being the recipient of the WWD 2026 Honor for Public Company of the Year. His MO perfectly reflects the theme of this year’s WWD Apparel and Retail CEO Summit, “The Great Reset,” forging new and innovative ways to speak to the Moncler community while always carefully “protecting the value of the brand,” a statement he reiterated throughout the interview.
Resetting Moncler for Ruffini means “evolving it, never radically changing or betraying it.”
Staying true to the legacy of the brand is actually what prompted Ruffini to invest in Moncler in the first place. “After inventing one, I wanted a brand that had history. I continue to go back to our archives, look at the photos, studying and reinterpreting Moncler to make it current and modern and I always find something,” he said.
Case in point: the launch earlier this month of Moncler Re/Icons, first introduced in 2023, and now reinterpreting the Karakorum, Verone, Himalaya and Tibb jackets, with the addition of a full ready-to-wear collection and a bold campaign fronted by Cher, Grace Jones and Jennie, celebrating individuality and pushing boundaries.
This reflects the brand’s history, “equipping the world’s most intrepid pioneers,” as it did in 1954 for the historic Italian expedition that achieved the first successful ascent of K2, the world’s second-highest mountain.
“Through Re/Icons, we celebrate this pioneering attitude and reaffirm something that has always been true for Moncler: who we are is not defined just by the past, but by what we choose to build for the future,” said Ruffini.
Moncler was founded in 1952 in Monestier-de-Clermont, and the mountains are not only the brand’s physical birthplace but are also symbolic of its goal to aim higher, Ruffini, an avid skier himself, has often said.
Over the years the Moncler reset has gone through cycles, first collaborating with fashion designers starting with Junya Watanabe for fall 2004, followed a year later by Balenciaga, which at the time was designed by Nicolas Ghesquière.
In 2006, Moncler launched Gamme Rouge with Giambattista Valli, followed in 2009 by Gamme Bleu by Thom Browne, with fashion shows in Paris and Milan until 2017, contributing to strengthen a sartorial culture, materials research and the brand’s luxury positioning.
“I felt Moncler needed to clear out of the sportswear category and the all-wholesale distribution and enter into the fashion and luxury world. These collaborations and the shows helped elevate the brand and the product, and provided legitimacy and access to retail,” he said, admitting that — always practical — higher margins in luxury were a draw, also wanting to stay away from discounting. “Quality and style were priorities.”
There is one thing Ruffini tries to stay away from — boredom — and the different iterations of Moncler have helped serve this purpose, and “for sure I don’t want our customers to lose interest.”
Cue the launch of Moncler Genius in February 2018, a new business model and strategy that involved a series of drops and capsules with designers ranging from Pierpaolo Piccioli and Simone Rocha to Jonathan Anderson and Craig Green to name a few, “allowing freedom in creativity, but always in a conversation with Moncler,” Ruffini underscored.
While continuing to build the core Moncler collection, which represents around 80 percent of sales, Ruffini has also been turning his attention to Moncler Grenoble, first launched in New York in 2010, where it showed for seven years.
Since February 2024, it has been further developed as a high-performance line with spectacular fashion shows and brand experiences in the likes of Saint Moritz, Courchevel and Aspen, the latter reflecting high ambitions to expand in the U.S., where a sprawling two-floor, 23,000-square-foot Moncler flagship opened in Manhattan in September in the former FAO Schwarz. “This was not by chance, and it was a dream come true,” said Ruffini.
“I’ve always had a strong connection with New York, my father lived in the city for years starting from 1968 and I used to visit often, as a child marveling at the size of everything, compared to Italy. The location is perfect, between Fifth and Madison avenues, and to me it’s always been a point of reference over the years.”
It took three years to restructure the space and Ruffini turned to his go-to design studio for the interiors: Gilles & Boissier.
“It’s a great expression of the brand and to show the breadth of our categories and that we offer year-round propositions,” he said.
Ruffini did not dismiss working with department stores and wholesale accounts, despite changes in the landscape, especially in the U.S., which he said “has improved. We still believe in wholesale, and I don’t think there is any cannibalization with the opening of the flagship. The customers are different.
“The U.S. market is increasingly important for luxury, it joins together different cultures, and there is a strong energy. The macro situation may be more confused, but I look at Moncler and there is room to grow,” Ruffini continued.
Excluding Stone Island, which is also part of the Moncler Group, Moncler sales last year amounted to 2.72 billion euros.
After the Moncler Grenoble event in Aspen, the brand will stage its next show in the Swiss Engadin Valley on Feb. 6 next year, but Ruffini is still mulling the details.
“I want to create a fairy tale, and I want it to be different from the previous events. I start from an idea, never the location,” which is still to be finalized and revealed.
Moncler Grenoble represents a double-digit percentage of sales and is today the brand that is growing fastest within the group.
As for the next step for Moncler Genius, following the last monumental event in Shanghai in October 2024, with collaborations with Jil Sander and Willow Smith, Ruffini said, “it’s in my head, but I don’t have a project or a precise date, I have to understand its maturity.”
“Mature” was also a term Ruffini applied to his decision to relinquish his role as group chief executive officer to Leo Rongone in April. Ruffini, who has maintained creative direction responsibilities and is executive chairman of the group, explained that the move, within “a company of this size,” allowed him to focus on product, creativity, marketing and retail — clearly activities in his veins.
He spearheaded the company through a successful public listing in Milan in 2013 to allow the exit of its private equity backers, Eurazeo, The Carlyle Group and Progressio Investimenti, and Ruffini has never looked back.
“Despite the volatility it’s a very beautiful experience, it has helped us to be very organized and structured in all areas, we have gotten to know investors from around the world and have interesting exchanges with them. But I have never forced things, never pushed for consensus. I work with a long-term view for the brand, to create value for it and this has paid back so far,” he said.
Lessons well learned indeed.