Edward Enninful: Longtime Fashion Expert, First-Time Fashion Designer (EXCLUSIVE)
It feels a bit trite to describe Edward Enninful's career in fashion as "impactful." Enninful is one of fashion’s great editors and stylists, a veritable living legend whose rangy ingenuity has seen him wear just about every hat in the biz as he transformed heritage publications into cutting-edge outlets.
Every hat, that is, save designer. That's where Moncler comes in.
"I’ve worked very closely with designers my whole career but it wasn’t until this collaboration with Moncler that I have been one myself," Enninful tells Highsnobiety. "Stepping into that role has been an incredible experience for me, one which pushed me to develop a new kind of creative practice. I went from writing the story to also inventing the language to tell it in."
The language of the EE72 x Moncler collection — this is a partnership between Moncler and Enninful's new media company, EE72, rather than just the man himself — is that of winterwear. But not quite the winterwear that's made Moncler famous, mind you.
Sure, puffers play a role but they're transformed into hoods and inflated scarves as part of Enninful's dramatic reinvention of Moncler heritage.
The real crux of the capsule isn't mere garments but sweeping silhouettes informed by editorialized layering pieces of all stripes.
Enninful envisioned emotive cold-weather clothes that shoot as well as they wear, including full-figured trenches and nubby coats that swallow the human form in a void of texture. Especially in monochrome shades that mirror Enninful's signature black suits, EE72's slick Moncler winter-gone-evening-wear epitomizes outdoor gear pushed to the fashionable ideal.
"Every piece in the collection required enormous creativity and care from myself and the team I worked with," says Enninful. "I’m so proud of what we achieved together. "
As such, Enninful sought a photographer capable of recognizing his Moncler capsule's dreamlike qualities. In the eyes of the great Tyler Mitchell, Enninful's collection came to life.
"I knew I wanted someone who could help create a visual world for our collection; a balance between fantasy and real life," says Enninful. "Tyler [Mitchell]’s images do that by creating these surreal worlds that always place the natural beauty of the subject front and center."
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