Meet the new Moschino, absolutely nothing like the old Moschino. For an entire decade, American designer Jeremy Scott riffed on the 40-year-old Italian house's inherent campiness but the party's over: new creative director Adrian Appiolaza has brought Moschino into its quiet luxury era (are people still saying "quiet luxury?").
That's not a good or bad thing, mind you, just a sign of the times. No more lurid gloriously garish Moschino; Appiolaza's first Moschino collection, the co-ed Fall/Winter 2024 line, is remarkably toned-down by comparison.
His tenure was complicated by the sudden, tragic passing of newly-appointed creative director David Renne but this is presumably entirely Appiolaza's show. Following that thread, this is effectively the big reveal of Appiolaza's vision for Moschino.
Appiolaza, who previously designed at LOEWE and Chloé (two brand names that pair quite nicely), is clearly looking to start fresh. His debut Moschino collection is titled Collezione 0 and the clothes therein speak to an all-new Moschino, sobered up from Jeremy Scott's heyday.
Whereas Scott's Moschino collections would doll models up as IRL Barbie dolls or dress them in inflatable suits, models wearing Appiolaza's Moschino could pass for, well, models at a fashion show.
They wore silk headwraps, semi-trompe l'oeil suspender-printed shirts, and more obviously trompe l'oeil sleeves wrapped around their longline cardigans.
The look was very Italiano, leaning into Moschino's Milanese heritage. But it was not very cheeky; little, if any, of Scott's humor exists in today's Moschino.
Again, take that as you will.
Instead, the focus was on heritage Moschino shapes, like elongated double rider's jackets, baggy '80s jeans — Moschino Jeans was a big hit for the house back in the day — and generous knitwear.
Supremely wearable stuff but also supremely familiar stuff. None of Franco Moschino's newspaper or lightning bolt prints here.
Instead, neon-bright smiley faces and graphic text, rendered XXXL on intarsia-knit dresses, added graphic flair of a similarly retro variety, feeling very Barbara Kruger, Katherine Hamnett in a way.
But at least you can't say that Appiolaza's Moschino is unsmiling.
