Jony Ive gets into outerwear

“I have come to care more about who I work with than what I work on,” says Jony Ive, former chief design officer of Apple and co-founder of creative collective LoveFrom. Later this month he will debut his first collection of outerwear, in partnership with Remo Ruffini, chairman and CEO of the billion-dollar brand Moncler. For the duo, who have known each other for many years, embarking on a project together “only felt natural”, says Ruffini, whose past collaborators include Craig Green, Thom Browne and Japanese musician Hiroshi Fujiwara.

Ive became fixated with the sound of the magnetic button during development

The collection has taken roughly four years to complete, inspired by Moncler’s new high-quality recycled nylon and bound by a mutual obsession with detail. It features a system of three “shells” (from £1,420) – evolutions of the brand’s classic field jacket, parka and poncho silhouettes – that attach to a core base layer (£2,180), available in either off-white or butter yellow (the attachments are also offered in various colours). The key innovations lie in the taslanised fabric – a treatment in which compressed air adds texture to mattify the thread – and the introduction of the magnetic Duo button that allows for fastening with one satisfying click – a sound Ive says he became fixated with during development.  

“We did not rush the process – we took our time until we were totally satisfied,” says Ruffini. This is typical of Ive’s way of working – the serif typeface developed for LoveFrom’s brand identity reportedly took just as long to perfect. Such precision has also fed into the graphic black-on-white packaging design for the collection, which comes with small paper models of the garments illustrating how the shell and core can be “snapped” together. 

The two have now formed “a very particular and precious relationship”, says Ive. “Every moment with Jony has been a gift,” says Ruffini. This is, they tease, only the beginning. 

The LoveFrom, Moncler collection will be available globally from 24 September in selected Moncler stores and at moncler.com

Model, Li Chengyuan at Kult. Casting, Tiago Martins at Ben Grimes. Grooming, Yumi Nakada-Dingle using Chanel and Davines. Photographer’s assistant, Emilio Garfath. Stylist’s assistants, Hayley Downes and Alvaro Merino de Mendoza. Grooming assistant, Erika Kimura. Production, Eightyseven Productions. Special thanks to Shannon Pajot