Moschino RTW Spring 2024
As a placeholder awaiting the arrival of a new creative director, Moschino’s 40th anniversary show on Thursday night was a high-energy hoot — and a rousing celebration of powerful women.
The Milanese house that the late Franco Moschino built conscripted four prominent international stylists — Carlyne Cerf de Dudzeele, Katie Grand, Gabriella Karefa-Johnson and Lucia Liu — who each created 10 looks.
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They cycled through the Italian fashion maverick’s penchant for satire, fierceness, frou-frou and wordplays, coaxing knowing grins, smiles and generous applause.
De Dudzeele paraded classic pants, classic jackets and classic raincoats with wry humor, labeling each as such with a prominent patch, and then scattering giant crystals over everything in her inimitable, maximalist way.
Karefa-Johnson’s models rounded the vast U-shaped runway in her interpretations of Moschino’s cowboy and biker looks from the early ’90s, revved up with Beyoncé’s pulsing “Pure/Honey” and expressive modeling that felt neither forced nor outmoded.
“Protect Us From the Fashion System” was Liu’s clever update on Moschino’s original slogan, “Stop the Fashion System,” while Grand let loose with message T-shirts blaring “Loud Luxury” or catsuits bearing a giant exclamation or question mark.
“Is it possible to explore the idea of luxury through a megaphone? Can good taste withstand all the noise?” were questions Grand posed in the show notes, letting choreographer Wayne McGregor interpret this angst via a frenetic troupe of elite dancers.
Chances are you’ve never heard Gloria Gaynor’s “I Am What I Am” interpreted by a concert violinist, but that’s how Teatro alla Scala concertmaster Laura Marzadori — strolling out in a black gown with a peace-sign bodice — cued up the touching finale walk of the 40 models in T-shirts to raise funds for the Elton John AIDS Foundation.
Whoever picks up the reins as successor to Jeremy Scott, who exited Moschino last March after an acclaimed 10-year stint, will have this tough sister act to follow, too.
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Launch Gallery: Moschino RTW Spring 2024
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