AntsLive talks winter fits and doing things his own way with Moose Knuckles

When London-based rapper AntsLive dropped his debut EP, Just a Matter of Time, its nine tracks proved the title was a promise rather than wishful thinking. ‘Number One Candidate’ went viral, picked up a UK Music Video Award and landed him a coveted spot on our 2024 Future of Music line-up. Now, he brings that same individual spirit to Moose Knuckles’ autumn/winter 2026 campaign, ‘City Tundra’.

“I’m a bit of a fashion chameleon,” he tells me at the brand’s Berlin store opening. It’s a fitting description for someone whose approach to getting dressed takes its cues from the city he calls home. “In London you see so many different styles and people expressing themselves in so many different ways. I like that. Be you, be free with it.”

He joins a cast of cultural innovators, including Honduran pop star Isabella Lovestory, skaters Blondey McCoy and Melissa Ramirez, and Olympic fencer Miles Chamley-Watson. A Canadian-led team comprising Toronto-based Jamie Webster and photographers Conor Cunningham and Ed Gumuchian created the campaign, shot in Romania earlier this year.

For AntsLive, it’s a celebration of individuality that felt like a natural fit. “The way I dress is a reflection of how I feel and where I am in life. I’m excited to see where that takes me.” His connection to Moose Knuckles starts closer to home: he recalls the North London crowd pulling their puffers out of storage as soon as temperatures drop. “Winter came, and you’d spot the logo from a million miles away.”

The campaign cast reflects the direction Italian designer Ludovico Bruno has taken since joining Moose Knuckles as global creative director in 2025. Guided by the Canadian outerwear brand’s ‘Leave Your Mark’ ethos, Bruno champions the next generation of trailblazers shaping their respective fields on their own terms.

“It’s about striving for excellence,” Bruno tells me. “Moose Knuckles is a community of individuals who can be themselves without losing their identity. They’re explorers and pioneers: innovative people trying something new and putting their own stamp on it.”

That same spirit of innovation shapes Bruno’s approach to design. Since 2009, the Montreal-based outerwear brand has paved the way for practical luxury, earning its place in winter wardrobes around the world. Bruno builds on that foundation with a sharper high-fashion sensibility, citing Helmut Lang and Prada Linea Rossa as touchstones for making functional clothing feel desirable.

That influence is clear this season, as technical performance and considered design come together in the Iceberg Quilt. Its padded triangular formations echo glacial landscapes across jackets and gilets, pairing sculptural impact with warmth. Elsewhere, technical innovation delivers lightweight outerwear designed for easy layering while retaining the heat needed to keep winter’s chill at bay.

Of course, the appeal lies in how Moose Knuckles balances expedition-ready functionality with the luxuries of city dressing: premium fabrics, contemporary fits and details such as shearling trim. For Bruno, making those elements work together starts in the fitting room.

“For me that is the biggest challenge,” Bruno explains. “I try everything. In every single fitting, even if it looks amazing it needs to be practical. At the end of the day we start with the utility of the clothes.”

With AntsLive among those championing his designs, it’s fitting that music also helps Bruno find his creative rhythm. “Music plays a big role in my creative process. It’s a freedom of expression but it doesn’t dictate direction.”

He gravitates towards music without lyrics, leaving room for his own storytelling. His listening spans an eclectic mix of nomadism, primitive music, deep house and techno, with repetition helping him settle into a creative zone. As he puts it, “It doesn’t shape the work, but it elevates it.” For a designer dressing people who move to their own beat, that feels like the right note to end on.