Moncler's First Mountain Essential Was a Sleeping Bag

Moncler sleeping bags came first. Insulated sleeping bags were among the first mountain essentials the house ever made, and the warmth they held laid the foundations for the puffy outerwear later worn on expeditions to the world's highest peaks.

Founded in 1952, Padded Before It Was Puffy

Moncler was founded in 1952 by René Ramillon and André Vincent and takes its name from Monestier de Clermont, a mountain village near Grenoble. Its early range was padded sleeping bags, a lined hooded cape and tents.

The sleeping bag is the product that tied the brand to altitude. It was insulation first and a jacket second.

The Italian K2 Expedition Wore Moncler Down in 1954

Moncler down jackets equipped the Italian expedition to K2 in 1954, the climb on which Achille Compagnoni and Lino Lacedelli reached the summit. That expedition is the point where a maker of sleeping bags became a maker of outerwear for the highest peaks.

Moncler's Pioneers in Moncler line puts the lineage in one sentence: "It all started in Moncler. By pioneers, in sleeping bags, with extraordinary dreams."

Forget the Jacket. Start With the Cocoon.

The sleeping bag is the garment the puffer descends from, a shape built to trap warmth around a whole body. Moncler's own line calls these bags "warming cocoons" that laid the foundations for the outerwear to come.

The current Moncore jacket swaps shells with magnets, while the 1952 range began as bags, a cape and tents.