Moncler V 2011: chill out

So it turns out that Moncler's collaboration with Visvim was more than just a one-off thing. Details of this year's collection are now beginning to emerge, beginning with a couple of body warmers (vests) and a pair of strides.

More, no doubt, will be revealed in the coming months.

Moncler Gamme Bleu: camping out with Star Wars

Moncler Gamme Bleu has never been afraid of an epic runway show and the unveiling of the spring / summer 2012 collection is no exception.

The whole thing is a bit reminiscent of an amateur dramatics interpretation of Star Wars, the bit when Darth Vader arrives at the death star.

You've even got a squad of camp storm trooper looking types, brandishing swords instead of phaser guns and striped up in the colours of the tricolour.  Talking of which, a tricolour codpiece on the death star would have had you in a death grip before you could say helmet.

Moncler V Betu: there goes a piece of history

I once walked out of a suit fitting in Aquascutum because the peg-toothed salesman guffawed when I said I wanted the opinion of the missus. "Ask the missus sir?" he sneered. "A gentleman doesn't have to ask the missus what she thinks of his suit." So he lost that sale.

As far as I am concerned, the missus does need to be consulted sometimes. It isn't a case of getting permission, more the fact that she gives an honest view, because she has a vested interest in making sure I don't look like too much of a berk.

I am lucky in that I consider her to be possessed of considerable taste, and also to take a sizeable interest in the clothes I dress in and who they are made by. Thanks to this she knows her Visvim from her W)Taps and if put in a Mr and Mrs situation would be able to name the five stores I make a point of visiting when in London and probably the very route I take to get to them.

It works both ways. I once persuaded her to put back a jumper with horses all over it.

However there have been occasions when my faith in her judgement was tested.

Which brings me to the Moncler V Betu.

I was stoked that this made it to the sale - checking the End site for a price reduction had become a daily ritual. The thought of completing the Wasi-Betu two-piece had consumed me for weeks.

More so than I realised, it turns out. So much so that when I put this jacket on I was unable to see that it gave me the silhouette of Spongebob Squarepants, that it fitted all wrong. I looked "like a padded box with legs."

All I could could see was grade 1 goosedown comfort with a water resistant shell and a little white Moncler badge on the arm, perfect on its own or as a liner to the Wasi. What's more, after months of persistence I was in posession of a piece of Visvim collaboration history. This wasn't just a jacket. It was a quest realised.

In the process of this quest I had become blinded to the fact that the Betu might not actually look that good.

Convinced Lizzie's style sense was going askew, I posted a picture on FUK. It didn't go down very well there either.

So it went back (sorry End). Like a prize fish lobbed back into the lake. All I have now is these pictures as evidence it was ever here.

Am I bitter? I was, for a week or so, especially when I saw someone trying to flog an identical one for £800 on Ebay, and when I saw it had once again sold at End.

But the pain is subsiding, and deep down I think I know she was right. She usually is.

Visvim gaiter hi socks: a mountain too far

Turns out the socks I was after, you know the ones that wrinkle down around your ankles? They're Visvim. I honestly had no idea.

I was having a little Google for Moncler V and this 'Modern Alpine' loookbook from Honeyee magazine came up. You might recognise one of the images from the sock blog, and you will notice that the socks are also featured in the Moncler V lookbook.

There, in the caption of the second shot, are the words "Gaiter hi (hand knit)". I reckon they were hand knitted by tibetan monks while suspended by their feet over hot coals judging by the 21,000 yen price tag, which equates to about £166 in the Queen's sheckle. For one pair.

Which is probably why I haven't been able to find any for sale, and why I probably won't be seeing my own feet in a pair.

Still, the rest of the Honeyee lookbook is worth reproducing here, if you haven' already seen it.

Visvim Eiger boots: a hill too far

Visvim Eiger FIL exclusive colourway

Visvim was way ahead of the curve when it introduced its Serra hiker a few years back.

Fast forward to this year and everyone looks like a mountaineer. The Moncler x Visvim hiking boots went faster than a loose bobble cap in a gale, and in their place you will now find Visvim's Eiger boots.

An equally splendid offering, you might think. I certainly did, until I saw the price. £1,005 in Dover Street Market. That sort of money would buy you a fair condition family car.

The price might even be considered slightly more acceptable if they were mind blowing in some way, but the Moncler offerings were in my mind better looking for less than half the price.

What's more, there is an Italian brand which has been around three times longer than Visvim, hand-makes mountain boots with the same Vibram sole as the Eiger, and until this season was available solely to the Japanese market.

It is Fracap. Put their scarponcini alongside the Eigers and you will be hard pushed to decide which looks best. Of course Visvim will always have its heel cap going for it, but for an £800 saving, I could live without that.

I wouldn't usually go on about the price of things on here and I know that one of the reasons Visvim has remained such a sought-after brand is the quality, which comes at a price. But there is a ceiling, and I reckon they've gone through it.

Fracap Scarponcini boot

Moncler V hiking boots

Moncler V Wasi jacket: specs appeal

When I lay down a decent sum on some new clobber, I like to know a bit about it.

In the case of this Moncler V Wasi jacket, I would have appreciated a little pamphlet explaining how, when it appeared to soak up the rain, it remained dry on the inside, and what those elastic braces were actually for.

While they were at it they could add something about the inspiration for the piece, and whether it is, as it hints, a reworking of an older Moncler mountaineering design.

Because while there is no doubt that this collaboration between Hiroki Nakamura and Moncler is something of a work of art, things like the addition of braces can leave one puzzled.

But all I got was a little tag (right), which offered me virtually no information other than the style and size and the fact that Moncler has been around since 1852, which to be frank, I could have Googled.

For a while I assumed the braces would hold a liner in place, so I dutifully fed my Visvim Pollard under them and into the arms (bottom pic) and it didn't work at all.

Sometime later I found out that the braces act as shoulder straps for carrying the jacket on your back without actually wearing it. As if anyone's going to do that. Luckily they can be removed, so they're coming out. 

Moncler V Collection: Taking the high ground

OK I admit it. I was wrong to think for one minute that Hiroki Nakamura's Visvim collaboration with Moncler was a mistake.

But I didn't have a lot of faith in Moncler back in February. For me it was a jumped up ski brand offering nothing but puffy jackets favoured by moonboot wearers.

So little interest did I have that I hadn't even bothered to find out if it was actually any good. After all, it has been around since 1852, so it must know a thing or two about keeping people warm up mountains.

But it now has my full attention - initiated by the Visvim announcement and then by the release of the Gamme Bleu collection, which welcomed the dandy back to cycling, complete with racing stripes.

This brand obviously a bit more than a pink puffa up its sleeve, and I can now vouch for the quality myself after I picked up one of the Moncler V Wasi jackets the other day. It was the Action Man mountaineer thing that got me.

This collection might be more Visvim style and manufacture with Moncler branding, but it does the trick for me. Pics of the jacket to follow, but in the meantime feast your eyes on this high altitude selection and try to stop yourself mounting an expedition to Liberty to grab something of your own.