‘Dress how you want, not how you should:’ Adrian Appiolaza takes the helm at Moschino

Trompe ‘l’oeil suspenders, resplendent ruffles, and polka dots aplenty: the 1980s Moschino archive was revived on Thursday night.

Trompe ‘l’oeil suspenders, resplendent ruffles, and polka dots aplenty: the 1980s Moschino archive was out in force to mark Adrian Appiolaza’s debut as creative director at the house on Thursday evening in Milan, albeit filtered through a fresh perspective. “It was about taking Franco Moschino’s masterpieces and bringing them back to life while balancing the theatricality that he was known for,” said Appiolaza at a preview of the pieces before the show. “Today, it’s important for people to feel related to the collection.” The designer, who joins the house from a 10-year stint as womenswear design director at Loewe (preceded by design roles at Alexander McQueen, Miguel Andover and Chloé under Phoebe Philo), only had a matter of weeks to prepare this collection. His predecessor, Davide Renne, who took the reins from long-term designer Jeremy Scott last year, suddenly passed away in November just days into his role. As an avid collector and self-proclaimed archivist, Appiolaza’s instinct took him straight to the founder Franco Moschino’s back catalogue. “Knowing the time I had, it was the most intelligent thing to do,” he said. “I think the fact that there was not a lot of time also helped me to be decisive and not to overthink things which was a good recipe for something that didn’t feel like too overthought.” From ties that came as prints on silk tunics and folded into headwear and the trademark curly question mark emblazoned on tops and tailoring, to cowboy double denim, spliced Stetsons and the iconic Smiley face, the references rolled out in a refreshingly wardrobe-relevant way. Elsewhere, the LOVE lettering and peace symbols that Moschino – a trained artist – painted but never translated into clothes were splashed across the majority of looks. “Peace is one of his most iconic symbols of Franco and I saw that it was natural that this needed to come out for my first show,” said Appiolazza. “As a general thing when I’m talking about the message (I want) to send it’s a universal message of peace and unity. (Franco) was very known and very strong in this in this matter.”