The mountains, and Saint Moritz in particular, always put a big smile on Remo Ruffini’s face.
On this particular occasion, the chairman and chief executive officer of Moncler Group is even more upbeat during an interview that takes place the morning after the successful Moncler Grenoble fashion show in a forest at the Clavadatsch lodge overlooking the tony Swiss resort town, which drew the likes of Anne Hathaway, Willow Smith, Kate Moss and Shaun White, among others.
“It was important to show what Grenoble is about, shine the light on the great quality and style of the product,” he says, beaming. He has been rebooting Grenoble as a high-performance brand, differentiating it from the company’s Moncler Collection and Genius labels, investing in the product offer, distribution and communication, with high ambitions.
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Ruffini is even more at ease as he is sitting at the Langosteria restaurant, cozy in front of a fireplace, his friends — including Diesel founder Renzo Rosso — waiting for him outside on the terrace for lunch. Last year, through Ruffini’s family investment vehicle Archive, which has a stake in Langosteria, Moncler partnered with Enrico Buonocore, founder of the Italian premium seafood restaurant, to open its first high-altitude location in Saint Moritz. In a typical chalet, Chesa Chantarella, the restaurant has direct access to the ski slopes of the Corviglia complex and visitors can reach it by cableway, by car or by horse-drawn carriage — swathed in furry blankets.
Skiing is second nature to Ruffini, who started the sport as a child at Pian dei Resinelli, with views from the Retic Alps to Monte Rosa, above Lecco and not far from Como, the Italian town where he was born.
“In winter, when school was over at lunchtime, I would hop on a bus and go skiing with 20 or so friends,” he reminisces. While his parents were fond of spending time in the mountains, his passion for skiing was all his own.
“They used to come to Saint Moritz since I was 2 or 3 years old, then briefly when I was 14, I convinced them to go to [upper Valtellina Alpine ski resort] Bormio for four or five years because my friends were there. But then when that group sort of drifted away, I came back to Saint Moritz because it was in my heart — and there is always beautiful snow here, which is not banal,” he observes.
While Ruffini has created a fashion luxury group that in the first nine months of the year registered sales of 1.8 billion euros, has been publicly listed since 2013 and also comprises the Stone Island brand, he humbly remembers that he bought “a first small apartment” in Saint Moritz 20 years ago, and “step by step” bought another bigger house and lastly his current third chalet — although the term does not do the building any justice.
Nestled in a forest, with a stunning view of the mountains and the lake below, the 27,000-square-foot home was designed with the help of architect Arnd Küchel, who hails from nearby Zuoz.
For Moncler, the Küchel Architects studio also designed the first Grenoble store that opened in December in Saint Moritz and the signature brand’s shop in Gstaad.
Larch, which is traditionally used in the Swiss Engadin region as it is highly resistant to cold weather, is a key element of the chalet. The exterior has been torched to black through a traditional Japanese wood burning and oiling method, explains Ruffini, who first saw the charred exteriors during his trips to Japan. Called yakisugi, this technique helps preserve the wood.
“It’s all local wood, although the prototypes were done with a laboratory close to Tokyo,” says Ruffini. “We worked with a carpenter in [the Swiss district of] Appenzell using the same craftsmanship with a blow torch that slowly burnt the wood until it became solid, almost like stone — it’s all black,” he says with a grin. “I like dark environments.”
The Grenoble and Moncler stores, the latter developed over the years with longtime partner French studio Gilles & Boissier, are also all dark, although he says with a laugh that those are light in comparison to the chalet. “I was pushed by my teams to lighten up the stores in Miami, Los Angeles and Macao — they are still in my taste but with a different brightness,” he remarks.
In the home, there is an impressive steel staircase and a fireplace made from a single 30-ton piece of stone. Ruffini has been working with artisans as well as artists, researching special pieces, which range from Rick Owens chairs to a painting by Helmut Lang and a sculpture by Not Vital.
While Langosteria is surely a favorite, Ruffini says he enjoys stopping at the old “baite,” the traditional wooden lodges peppering the mountain range, such as the Clavadatsch in the Suvretta valley. “They don’t need much maintenance and they haven’t changed in decades,” he says.
Responding to a question about a possible dream project, he reveals that “hospitality has always been my dream, to be able to create an experience, maybe with small hotels. I have been thinking about this for many years but I don’t know if I will ever bring this to fruition because it’s really another job, a different culture.”
Ruffini spends every free weekend and 10 days in August in Saint Moritz as he believes the town is even more beautiful in the summer, with “the seven lakes reflecting the plants all around. This valley is unique in the world.”
Admitting he is “on a permanent diet,” he turns to biking in the summer, and strategically prepares for skiing by going to the gym four days a week.
“I don’t snowboard; I tried once, but I felt as if my feet were tied up, I didn’t enjoy it. I use climbing skins, I also used to ski off-piste, but when it’s too cold the snow is too hard and with the climate change and warmer temperatures, it’s more dangerous [because of the avalanches],” he reflects. “The real problem is that with the new technologies it’s easier to ski, so there’s more people who are decent enough skiers but that are not in control. And with snowboarders you never know what unexpected movements they may make, so one must be very careful.”
He is clearly familiar with the tracks and slopes in the area and ticks them off easily. “Here, facing south there is the sun in the early morning and the snow is very beautiful when it’s cold; [Piz] Corvatsch facing north is entirely in the shadows in January and February but in March it’s fantastic when the daylight starts to get longer; at Diavolezza at the end of the valley, you can use climbing skins near the ski run and then move onto the slope safely without any risk.”
He tests the Moncler Grenoble outfits himself on the slopes to fine-tune their comfort, materials and function — “where you put the pockets, the glasses, the gloves, the ski pass. It’s always a work in progress, trends change,” he says, proudly adding that the company has an internal experimentation center and a dedicated facility in Romania.
Ruffini shines a light on the level of technology of the Moncler Grenoble line, citing laminated merino knits and embroideries with a 3D effect. The fall collection comprised intricate geometric intarsia, puffers with multicolored boudins created with the help of artificial intelligence, and quilting that created the effect of Aran knit stitches on ski jackets. Duvets were fully fashioned in knits; mixed media capes reflected the brand’s expertise with materials, and oversize, cocooning coats were made with shaggy strands of virgin wool and alpaca, which looked like furs but were not as the company has been fur-free since the fall 2023 season.
Asked if he was ever nervous on the slopes or met any wildlife while skiing, he recalls only one incident, when he came across a huge deer while driving. “Luckily I missed it, otherwise I don’t know what would have happened…” he trails off.
Ruffini admits there are many other beautiful mountain ranges, such as the Dolomites, and ski areas such as Val d’Isère in France, and he adds that two years ago he felt “a little guilty” and decided to spend every winter weekend surveying the condition of the 13 Moncler stores in the various ski locations in Europe, from Courchevel and Chamonix to Megève, Verbier and Gstaad — and skiing was not off the table.
In April, Ruffini will be traveling to Aspen, but time for skiing will be limited since he will be checking out “new cities that are becoming more important” for Moncler in the U.S. and because of the ongoing post-pandemic trend of remote working.
But while work is never far from his thoughts, as he makes his way out to the sunny terrace to his friends and the slopes, it’s obvious Ruffini also knows how to play.