Moschino invited four stylists to interpret its legacy
While we rarely name-check stylists in show reviews, the creatives who consult for brands are a huge part of the fashion conversation. When it came to celebrating its 40th anniversary this season – with a successor for Jeremy Scott yet to be announced – Moschino invited four stylists to interpret the legacy of its founder for one season only. In the show’s finale, models debuted an anniversary t-shirt with the slogan “Borrow me, wear me, hug me, love me” created in support of the Elton John AIDS Foundation. Franco Moschino, who died in 1994 from AIDS-related causes, founded his brand 1983 and spent the following decade crafting one of the most recognisable identities in fashion. As a nod to the finale of his autumn/winter 1986 show, the anniversary staging finished with a violin rendition of Gloria Gaynor’s “I Am What I Am” performed by Laura Marzadori.
Act 1 was designed by Carlyne Cerf de Dudzeele
“This is called ‘Cerf style’!” Carlyne Cerf de Dudzeele said backstage, gesturing at her look board. “I do crazy things but I love classics. I love high and low, and I’ve always done it, but in a very classic way. Monsieur Moschino loved a classic, too, so it was a perfect connection.” The French stylist, who worked with Jeremy Scott throughout his tenure at Moschino, created a mini complete wardrobe that elevated and twisted the staples we wear most. “The tailleur, the raincoat, the sweatshirt, the khakis, the jeans, the turtleneck, the smoking, the perfecto, a long black dress, some diamanté and a tracksuit, but in taffeta,” she said. “You can put everything in a carry-on and mix everything and be there for a week. Bim-bom-bam-bom, mix! Voilà!”
Act 2 was designed by Gabriella Karefa-Johnson
The American stylist Gabriella Karefa-Johnson approached her collection the way she knew best: “I always start from a stylist’s perspective. That’s what I know and do. I gravitated towards the legacy of the brand: the sense of fun, eclecticism, humour. It always subverts something,” she said. “I found a few key ideas that I knew I wanted to represent. One was the cowboy hat, a traditional signifier of white masculinity, but styled on a Black woman. That’s the flip. And then the textures and colour clashing I normally do in styling came in with Franco’s polka dots and his crocheting. I layered it until I found the perfect off-kilter vibe.” The approach manifested in a string of characters, from “the bombshell in the club” to “the twisted power-bitch businesswoman” and “my West African auntie, who lives in Harlem and is always at some fab music venue.”
Act 3 was designed by Lucia Liu
The Beijing-based stylist Lucia Liu brought the romance. “I did the colourful, flowy, romantic ones,” she said, pointing at the look board backstage, and there was no doubt which she was referring to. “I looked over Franco’s archives again and again and picked out the pieces I most felt connected to the things that I like. And then I changed them a bit.” Liu’s looks were a collage of the high versus low that characterises much of Moschino’s work: a mutation of ballroom skirts, tailoring, rococo bows and t-shirts, adorned with florals. “I’m always about flowers and nature, so I found those prints in the archives, changed their colours and added Moschino logos to them,” she explained. Her collection included two slogan T-shirts: an Italian version of “There’s no such thing as good taste” and “Protect me from the fashion system”. “I just liked the font,” Liu smiled.
Act 4 was designed by Katie Grand
“I gate-crashed a show once in London when I was in college,” Katie Grand admitted, reflecting on her personal history with Moschino. When the British stylist and founder of the magazines Pop, Love and Perfect was tasked with interpreting Moschino’s legacy for today, she approached it with a blank canvas. “I read the book and looked at what they had in the archive, and got really overwhelmed by it. Then, I stepped back and processed it, and it was the slogans that stood out. That’s what I woke up thinking about.” In Franco’s spirit, she came up with the slogan “Loud luxury” and emblazoned it on T-shirts, jumpers and dresses worn by dancers in a performance choreographed by Wayne McGregor. “I’d seen two of his ballets immediately before going to the archive. It made sense to be conscious of the body,” Grand explained. She layered her slogan T-shirts with archival prints of the contours of bodies, creating a highly physical expression she described, with a smile, as “organised chaos”.
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