Bling’s the thing as Drake puffs jacket sales

SINCE Drake wore one in his Hotline Bling video, the Moncler puffer jacket has become a status symbol in outerwear.

The Hotline Bling clip alone sparked a huge surge in sales of the $US1150 red Maya puffer jacket, as seen on the Canadian rapper. Sales of the garment more than doubled after the video was released in 2015, according to Vanity Fair, making Drake an unofficial face of the brand (he has since worn it frequently).

“We had a great result on the e-commerce sale of the Maya model,” a Moncler spokesman told vanityfair.com at the time.

Hotline Bling has now had more than a billion views on YouTube and was a defining moment for Moncler, which had been close to bankruptcy in the early 2000s. Nearly two years on from Drake’s video, the French luxury brand has finally opened its first stand-alone store in Australia.

“It’s a country that I believe can become important for our brand,” Moncler president and chief executive Remo Ruffini said.

“We have planned to further consolidate our presence on

We have planned to further consolidate our presence on both sides of the distribution channels, both retail and wholesale, through opening this shop-in-shop.

both sides of the distribution channels, both retail and wholesale, through opening this shop-in-shop”.

The Moncler store officially opened at Chadstone shopping centre in Melbourne last week.

It houses the brand’s ready to wear collections of upmarket outerwear and accessories, including its Moncler Grenoble, Moncler Enfant, Moncler Lunettes and Moncler Gamme Bleu ranges.