More than anything else, luxury brands like Moët & Chandon certainly had plenty of plans forcibly put on ice as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. But with the currently unfolding of vaccine rollouts everywhere sending a positive air of optimism, perhaps it’s time for them to carry on with the business of bringing joy to the world?
Yes, it certainly looks like the LVMH-owned champagne powerhouse is almost not even skipping a beat with its recent announcement of a brand-new collaboration with fashion designer Yoon Ahn for its first artistic redesign of Moët Impérial.
And in case you didn’t already know, the Korean-American designer is one of the founders and creative director of Japanese fashion brand Ambush. She is also the director of jewellery at Dior Homme, another LVMH-owned brand. The Tokyo-based designer, who goes by her first name, is a rising star among a new generation of innovative designers, and brings her creative vision and modern sensibility to this collaboration.
Now, Yoon has put her delightful minimalist spin on the iconic Moët Impérial and Nectar Impérial Rosé champagne bottles. “I was thrilled to be given carte blanche to re-design the bottle of Moët Impérial. It was a great challenge given its recognisable and iconic codes, but I also saw it as a great opportunity to bring my own aesthetics to this iconic champagne,” she proudly reveals. “On my visit to Épernay, I saw the devotion of the people at Moët & Chandon to nature and to their precious terroir. This inspired me to select the World Land Trust to receive the support of the house, so that together we could help preserve other terroir around the world.”
Yoon’s limited-edition take on the bottles swap out the gold and pink foil of the Impérial and Nectar Impérial Rosé for black. The Impérial bottle has a red embossed seal, while the Nectar Impérial Rosé’s seal is black. The bottles’ gilded labels were also replaced with bright white embossed labels for a clean look reminiscent of a blank page or slate. “I imagine the blank slate like a window into the future, open to those daring to make something new,” Yoon continues.
While the champagne house has launched numerous collaborations and limited-edition bottles in the past, this partnership between Moët & Chandon and Yoon is particularly momentous because it is the first time in 152 years that the iconic Moët Impérial, the house’ signature champagne from 1869, has had its bottle redesigned. Thus, it is an auspicious step forwards and offers Yoon a platform to bring her creative vision and modern sensibilities to this collaboration.
Certainly, there are few better ways to mark the launch of such an exciting collaboration than to dedicate it towards a charitable cause, especially one that benefits the environment too. In this regard, and definitely in line with a tradition of giving that has marked the greatness of the house since 1743, Moët & Chandon is set to donate part of the proceeds from the sale of the limited-edition Moët & Chandon x Ambush bottles to the World Land Trust, an international conservation charity that protects threatened natural habitats.
“We are grateful for Moët & Chandon’s generosity in helping us preserve the Canandé Reserve in the Ecuadorian Chocó Forest, a place as biodiverse as the Amazon rainforest but far more threatened,” says Jonathan Barnard, CEO of World Land Trust. “Only 2% of this forest remains today, still inhabited by 10% of animal species found nowhere else on the planet. The support from the Moët & Chandon x Ambush collaboration will have a direct impact on stopping the deforestation of the Chocó, not just for the sake of its fragile species, but also to combat one of the causes of climate change.”
The Moët & Chandon x Ambush limited-edition bottle is available at select retailers as well as on The Good Stuff
