Moschino SS24 – Milan Fashion Week

In celebration of the House’s 40th birthday, the Moschino SS24 show at Milan Fashion Week was a multiple-act, theatre-style spectacle that commemorated Franco Moschino’s designs throughout the 80s and 90s.  For the first show since the departure of Jeremy Scott earlier this year, invitations were dispatched to four much-loved stylists and creatives to craft their own pieces in the collection.  The only proviso they had was to refer to the playful, humorous and slightly chaotic house codes that have continued to resonate 40 years after Franco Moschino first established them.

Act 1 of this dramatic play began with Carlyne Cerf De Dudzeele’s reimagining of Moschino’s timeless pieces – neat double-breasted blazers and tailored suit trousers were dressed down with hoodies and turtlenecks, while classic lines were broken up with pushed-up sleeves and crystal jewellery to walk a perfect line between casual and sophisticated.

The creations of Gabriella Karefa-Johnson signalled the beginning of Act 2.  Cowboy hats, crocheted skirts, polka dot motifs and biker leathers perforated with large gold rings were pulled from straight the archives and combined with the stylist’s bold palette of patchwork primaries, cool denim blues and glamorous black.  Described as “NOWstalgia” by Karefa-Johnson, the 90s informed every silhouette, but the collection remained current through the designer’s eye for texture and colour.

Act 3 took an ethereal turn and tapped into the more nuanced aspect of femininity that underpinned Franco Moschino’s work. Lucia Liu utilised florals, lace and ruffles to evoke a sense of romance, while still packing a few punches with familiar slogan tees and vests.  “Protect me from the fashion system” and “There’s no such thing as good taste,” they read – echoing Franco Moschino’s well-known distaste for the formalities of the fashion world.

Katie Grand’s Act 4 brought dancers with boundless energy to the stage who also indulged in a little sloganeering.  “His use of slogans was deeply appealing,” said Grand of the founder, “and the idea of LOUD LUXURY came to me quite quickly”.   Each dancer performed clinging and releasing from each other as they charged down the runway in monochromatic tutus, bodysuits with suggestive graphic flourishes and giant exclamation points, and arm-length gloves for girls and boys to underscore the theme.

Franco Moschino always designed with the future in mind, so much so that he hated retrospection.  The four stylists for Moschino SS24 perfectly captured his legacy without resting on the laurels of the past, and imparted their own personal flair to create a campy newness to the latest collection that still feels authentically Moschino.

To read our review of the Moschino AW23 show from MFW, click here

Click here for more information on Moschino SS24