Every winter starts the
same way. The temperature drops, the black puffer comes out of the
closet, and for the next four months, half the sidewalk looks
identical. This season, one woman who has never dressed like anyone
else is offering an alternative. She is 80 years old, she has been
a style reference for six decades, and in her latest campaign, she
is wearing white.
Cher, JENNIE and Grace Jones for Moncler
On October 15, Moncler unveiled Re/Icons, a collection that brings back recognizable outerwear and accessories from its archives in updated forms. The campaign, shot and directed by British photographer Gabriel Moses, stars three women from three generations: Cher, Grace Jones and JENNIE of Blackpink, according to Designscene. The collection is available now in selected Moncler stores and online.
JENNIE wears the Karakorum in black and the Tibb as a caramel vest, while Grace Jones wears the Karakorum in purple, Fashion Week Daily reported. Cher, for her part, gets two of the house’s most famous jackets: the black Verone and, above all, the white Himalaya.
Why the white Himalaya stands out
The Himalaya is one of Moncler’s mountaineering classics, and for Re/Icons it comes back with a cinched waist and a contemporary logo, according to Fashion Week Daily. That waist is the detail that changes everything: instead of the boxy, sleeping-bag silhouette most puffers fall into, it draws a line and gives the jacket a shape.
Then there is the color. A white puffer reflects light toward the face where a black one absorbs it, and it reads instantly more polished, closer to an après-ski coat than a commuter uniform. It is also a natural next step for anyone who has already started replacing the black puffer this fall.
The Bob Mackie wink
Cher being Cher, the campaign could not be just about a coat. She wears it with a yellow scarf that references the Bob Mackie scarf look she wore on The Cher Show in the 1970s. In the campaign film, she recreates elements of that original performance and uses the scarf to set a group of dancers in motion, as Culted described. Mackie designed many of the most famous looks of her career, and the nod is a reminder that Cher’s style was never about blending in.
The theme of the campaign is pioneering spirit, a nod to the mountaineers who wore Moncler’s first jackets. Cher’s take on it, quoted by Designscene, sounds exactly like her: “Pioneering spirit is just going forward and being tough.”
How to wear a white puffer this winter
- Look for a defined waist. A cinched or belted puffer, like the new Himalaya, keeps the volume on top and stops it from swallowing you.
- Go tonal. Cream knits, ivory trousers or winter-white jeans make a white puffer look deliberate and expensive.
- Or go full contrast. Dark denim and black boots, as Cher’s black Verone suggests, keep it graphic and city-proof.
- Add one color near the face. A yellow or red scarf is the easiest way to borrow her Bob Mackie wink.
- Keep it clean. Spot-clean marks as soon as they appear: a white puffer only works when it stays white.
It is also one of the most flattering winter shapes after 50, alongside the coat cuts stylists recommend for women over 50.
The bottom line
Cher has spent 60 years proving that the safe option is rarely the most memorable one. At 80, in a white puffer with a cinched waist and a scarf full of history, she makes a convincing case for leaving the black one in the closet this winter.
