“It’s about sleekness and a way of usage that is true to itself”: Moose Knuckles Creative Director Ludovico Bruno sits down with Man About Town as he unveils his vision for the brand. 

How do you put a luxury performance outerwear brand onto a new worldwide menswear guy  without losing your soul? That’s the task of Ludovico Bruno, Moose Knuckles’ newly appointed Creative Director, who unveiled his debut collection in Milan last week. 

“They really wanted to have a more global vision, and I could bring that because I’m European. I’ve been working in New York, working in Paris, and have my own brand in Milan, which is still small but has very global roots and DNA,” says Bruno, who sits opposite me in the brand’s showroom. “I can explore a deeper and wider panorama and [they] can also tell me a little bit about their Canadian roots.”

Bruno joins Moose Knuckles after nearly a decade heading up design at Moncler Genius, the Italian brand’s collaborative project with guest designers. His own label, Mordecai, fuses technical design and sportswear with more heritage products, like kimonos and ponchos – proof of his experience bridging the worlds of performance wear and more traditional luxury. Where Moose Knuckles has been associated with colder climates, he wants to push beyond to expand the global reach of the brand. And he’s tapping global citizens to do so. The well dressed guys who post Instagram stories in new cities every week, then flick up in the mountains the days after – it’s these new-gen explorers that Bruno wishes to dress. They’re loosely based in cool cities, but they’re difficult to pin down. 

“It really embodies the Moose Knuckles DNA, this persona. It’s always on the run, but it’s about planes, and resorts, and cities like New York and Tokyo,” he says. “I really see the active life of this character, and we wanted to dress him from day to night, from the ski slopes to an event.” 

So what does this look like? Products designed for a range of climates in a range of new materials, including denim and corduroy. Where Moose Knuckles has been mostly known for its level four down jackets, created for temperatures spanning -20 degrees celsius to -30 degrees celsius, the push is now on design level one (10 degrees celsius to zero degrees celsius), level two (from zero degrees celsius to to -10 degrees celsius) and level three (-10 degrees celsius to -20 degrees celsius). This requires a selection of down options, from liners to heavyweight parkas, designed to be layered and to last. 

“It’s about sleekness and a way of usage that is true to itself. You buy a jacket for a reason and it stays in your wardrobe hopefully forever,” says Bruno, walking and talking his way through the collection. 

It also means being open to collaboration, not just with an outerwear focus, but spanning from artists, denim, and other accessories. “Moose Knuckles is the brand that can host a collaboration and still be believable,” says Bruno.

This is seen through the brand’s City Guide series, which spotlights global citizens in their natural habitats; where they hang out, and what they get up to. Joey Bada$$ kicked things off in NYC, with more to come from London, Montreal, and Seoul. It’s a way of creating noise in the right places, much like its recent collaboration with Japanese denim specialist Evisu, and recent campaigns set against the backdrop of urban environments.

The brand’s lifestyle push arrives at a time when performance clothing is increasingly entering into the fashion sphere. On, the Swiss performance label, has partnered with Loewe and art basel, and is increasingly worn in circles outside of sport, as well as with athletes. Haider Ackermann was installed as Canada Goose’s first-ever creative director last year in 2024. With Bruno’s on board, the stage is set for Moose Knuckles to enter that space. 

As the brand enters this new chapter, Bruno shares what a lifestyle brand means to him in 2025. He tells me it is about finding experiences, just as a DJ starts playing below. Wasting no time in sharing this vision, the designer has transformed the brand’s Milan showroom, with a near-ceiling touching artificial mountain, dotted with protagonists as they navigate from city to street.

As the artificial snow clears, a road appears alongside traffic lights and road signs, as mannequins shed layers, unravelling the brands’ tundra to city motive approach. To push the vision beyond clothes, there’s a mountain topped with butter, and maple syrup-infused cocktails to bring a taste of Canada to the city’s cool kids – a few of those global explorers dotted amongst them.