BEAUTY: Clothing--Moschino

Jeremy Scott took over as Creative Director of Moschino ten years ago now, and at the time it seemed to me like he would be taking the brand from a, how to say it, um...trashy place to one of more creativity. And while he has brought an undeniable explosion of color and form to the label, he has tended to be a bit too cartoony and cheap, a sort of carnival fun-house mirror version of what the label was before his arrival.

But he has managed to create a few collections that are unique, previously here. And this Fall-Winter 2023-2024 collection shown at Milano Moda Uomo is worth examining.

As with so many designers trying to find new ways to express the traditional concept of menswear through deconstruction, Scott takes men's tailoring and suiting as a starting point, but perhaps more thoroughly and even more uniquely than ever seen before, he comes up with some interesting new translations. Take the iconic wool gentleman's suit...he Frankenstein's a patchwork pattern for jackets. trousers, and overcoats. A skirt made of neckties is a wild moment.

He then moves on to literally deconstructing suiting with some offerings that seem to be garments presented inside out so the seaming and stitching can be seen. A collar curls up to become a hood. Sleeves are slashed from the body and held in place with braces, a look that certainly harkens back to Gaultier's costumes he created for Madonna on her Blonde Ambition tour. Scott even puts braces on a corset worn under a jacket. In a continuing tour of uniforms and de rigeur clothing for men, we take a stop into Tom of Finland territory with some motorcycle leathers, and we end up in a Puttin' On The Ritz motif of pieces worn by Cary Grant in "Bringing Up Baby" but worn twisted, sideways. A tuxedo jacket sprouts a second set of lapels on the arms, and a ruffle wraps around a collar and slinks its way down the trousers. It all feels like a very imaginative deconstruction and playful chiding of the clothing limits that have imposed upon men for a century or more. Good work, Jeremy!

https://www.moschino.com/

BEAUTY: Clothing--Moschino

Moschino's Jeremy Scott can get a bit too cartoony and cheap for me, but I have to say this Fall-Winter '21-'22 collection is pretty interesting. Apparently Scott is a classic film fan and has been watching the Turner Classic Movie channel all during our global COVID quarantine. While in lockdown, Scott has also been painting. Of course both of these elements infiltrated his work and, according to fashion journalist Anders Christian Madsen, he presented a collection that was a mix of "the precision of Old Hollywood tailoring and the spontaneity of hand-painting. The lines of overcoats, tuxedos, and suiting with a 1940s persuasion were enhanced with Post-Impressionist brushstrokes, in some cases creating trompe l’oeil effects that Scott attributed to his passion for the study of painting." I love how he seems to have accented with painted sections the natural lines of shadows and light on a garment--and even the shine of leather on a Tom of Finland-inspired biker outfit! It is definitely cartoony but in the most engaging way possible...

https://www.moschino.com/

BEAUTY: Clothing--Moschino

And here we go...the coverage starts at London Collections: Men for the 2016-2017 Fall-Winter shows.

Jeremy Scott has taken the Moschino brand into a very interesting place since he took over as creative director in 2013. My impression of Moschino in the past was that it was, well, a rather trashy line to put it indelicately. But Scott's imagination, inspirations, and bravado have made the house interesting to me. And for the Fall-Winter '16-'17 collection shown at London Collections: Men, Scott's inspiration proved to be a fruitful collaboration with the legendary modern artists Gilbert and George. That they would work with a fashion house to create works of art seems completely in keeping with their oeuvre...their slogan is "Art for all!" And given their honored place in the art world (The Tate Modern organized a marvelous career-spanning retrospective I was lucky enough to see in San Francisco), it's a wonder it didn't happen sooner. Fashion designers are always using inspiration from art and artists, and now we have a proper representation for Gilbert and George.

Their photo/paint works are saturated with color, figures--humans and shapes--and are presented on a flat plain within a grid system that can invoke the idea of stained glass. But Gilbert and George's subject matters are not really stained glass material. They mostly use themselves but other models as well as springboards to comment on social issues, inequality, justice, freedom, and sexuality, despite the fact that they politically identify themselves as conservatives. Gilbert and George met in 1968 as art students and have lived their lives together as artists and life partners ever since and have been vocal--er, I mean, visual supporters of gay rights as well as human rights in general.

Gilbert and George opened up their archives to Scott so he could incorporate faces, crosses, flowers, and random designs into this dynamic collection that really and truly does look like a Gilbert and George painting come to life. The pieces are presented in saturated jewel tones along with models faces and hair. And the additional touch of dark shading and motion/fabric folds in white or black lines actually drawn on the garments make it seem like a living cartoon!

And if you are unfamiliar with Gilbert and George's work, here are a few examples along with portraits of them when they were young and the couple now...

http://www.moschino.com/

BEAUTY: Clothing--Moschino

In the past, I have not been a fan of Moschino...for whatever reason, the clothes never called to me, never seemed so unique or interesting, and they never seemed like they were crafted or forged by an artist who had thought of them, dreamt them up. But Jeremy Scott took over the label in 2013 and things have become...more interesting. And for the '15-'16 Fall-Winter collection for Moschino, Scott took all the tired staples of typical American winter wear--deer hunter plaid, shearling-lined denim jacekts, and ski wear--and imagined a scenario where all these clothes wound up on a gaggle of young rave-goers: his half-dressed models walked the pine tree-laden winter wonderland space in falling snow. He created a patchwork denim pattern which was then printed onto denim, a kind of gilded lily for the ubiquitous fabric. Faux fur showed up everywhere, some printed with snow leopard and zebra. The deer hunter plaid that is in every wardrobe in the Mid-West gets a hilarious metallic treatment of tropical hibiscus flowers while the same hibiscus flowers get strewn over ski wear.

This reminds me of a small aside: one winter while traveling across the country, a blizzard diverted our plane from O'Hare to St. Louis where we were put up at a Sheraton for the night. When we went down to the lobby the next morning to wait for the airport shuttle to take us to our re-scheduled flight, a group of teen-and-twenty-somethings came down to wait with us, get this, wearing only tee shirts, shorts, and flip-flops...when it was a mere 6* F outside! The only thing I could think of was that these kids were on their way to Hawaii or Puerto Vallarta or more likely Miami. It is a luxury to be able to escape the winter weather in the Mid-West and they wanted to advertise the fact that they were leaving. They wanted to make sure that everyone was quite aware that they were going somewhere warm, where down jackets, gloves, ski caps and scarves are not needed. Amusing...and exactly what Scott was going for.

And speaking of ski wear and raves, who would not want silver metallic ski pants or a sparkling gold parka? But the part I love the most are the fabulous après-ski boots. I would love a pair just to wear to the market... just for fun. And that is what this collection is: FOR FUN. It is a lighthearted, super-colorful whirl to brighten winter. Scott said he wanted the show to feel like a ramped up Bruce Weber spread and it sure was.

http://www.moschino.com/

BEAUTY: Clothing--Moschino

I love it when a fashion house or designer who has never really impressed me comes up with something that draws my attention. Such is the case with this oblique Spring-Summer '14 collection by Moschino at Milano Moda Uomo.

Stream of consciousness impressions (it works best this way):
*Climate change
*Extreme weather patterns and destructive phenomena--LIGHTNING and STORMS
*Lovelock's Gaia Principle
*STRATA of elements/life: water, sky, earth, fire, lava, space, plants = INTERCONNECTED
*Water bottles, climbing rope to survive on a new, more hostile planet
*Pen holders = scientists who have been warning us of climate change for decades
*Exclusive Asian cast of models = Kyoto Protocol?

Fascinating.

http://www.moschino.com/

BEAUTY: Clothing--Misc. Paris Fashion Week F/W '12-'13

Here's a little round-up of some miscellaneous looks and silhouettes from Paris Fashion week that I found interesting...

Acne showed some interesting shapes and proportions along with the unique idea of having a quilted outerpiece worn under a jacket! It seems that lots of designers were doing short jackets in this season of the suit...


One can always depend on Rei Kawakubo of Comme des Garçons to present something totally insane and totally unwearable. This '12-'13 F-W collection featured an elusive cross-dressing, Goth, schoolgirl theme with a bit of French court millinery thrown in to keep us off balance (as if we needed to be any more off balance with this collection). The result is peculiar and compelling. The brocade printed over a classic tartan has an almost lace effect.


Dries van Noten, one of the original Antwerp Six, continues to create interesting collections. This one, inspired by a highly unlikely pairing of Frank Zappa and Oscar Wilde (?) featured graphic quotes from Wilde with psychedelic prints. Watch the video from Style.com to see the creation of the "art wall" behind the models.

Iceberg's '12-'13 FW collection came to us through Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton, as evidenced by the hats and suspenders on the models, not to mention that minimalist outline of Chaplin in gold on the tee shirt below. The gears on the back wall of the runway reference the Chaplin film "Modern Times." This reminds me very much of the Chaplin collection John Galliano did for SS '12, seen here.


Issey Miyake's '12-'13 FW collection was mildly interesting, but of note was a faded pattern on suits and pointy, geometric jackets.


Junya Watanabe is another designer who loves a theme and this collection seemed to be an homage to lumberjacks in Carhartt's. I like the tailored approach to work wear as well as the leather patchwork suits. I seem to be smitten with the model in orange suspenders. Anyone know who this is?

Maison Martin Margiela took the re-use/recycle ethos to heart and created coats from Monoprix bags as well as black trash bags!


Jean Paul Gaultier showed a '12-'13 FW collection that featured suits and pieces in a brick pattern as well as silhouettes that evoked the early years of the twentieth century. There is something a little "Boardwalk Empire" about it all... but of course we would not expect to see a gangster in a skirt. Only for JPG.


Now here we go again with the Hundredth Monkey/ zeitgeist idea... not only did Gaultier use a brick print, but so did Moschino! Coincidence? Something in the air?


And finally, Walter Van Bierendonck, who is wildly entertaining, created a collection that kind of terrifies me. Using the idea of African masks mixed with leather masks from bondage/S&M culture, he presented a candy-colored world of fetish, playing off the usage of the word as both an African statue containing magic and a sexual fixation. Models wore rubber waders, rubber masks, and rubber padlocks as accessories on necklaces and canes which ended up looking like tribal or voudoun staffs of power... fascinating and scary!

And finally, I need to share a really wild runway show even though the clothing was not remarkable. Umit Benan, whose designs I do appreciate, came up with an extreme military theme this season, with pieces that look like he raided Fidel Castro's closet. If I want that, I will go to the local Army-Navy Surplus store. But the show! WOW! Naked soldiers showering, men getting tattooed live on stage, Army men hanging out... what a theatrical tableau! Yowsa!

http://shop.acnestudios.com/
http://www.comme-des-garcons.com/
http://www.driesvannoten.be/
http://www.iceberg.com/
http://www.isseymiyake.com/
http://www.maisonmartinmargiela.com/
http://www.jeanpaulgaultier.com
http://www.moschino.it/
http://www.waltervanbeirendonck.com/
http://www.umitbenan.com/