Designer Jeremy Scott made his runway debut at the 2014 Fall/Winter Fashion Show in Milan, Italy in February 20. In order to pay homage to Franco Moschino in the fashion house that he built, the designer from Missouri went all- out.
There were references to food companies like McDonald’s and Budweiser, food couture (yes, there were candy-bar-wrapper, gummy-bear and popcorn-bag dresses) and there were also references to Rue Cambon (and Chanel), that could be easily pin-pointed as models strutted down the runway in quilted leather jackets and embellished in gold chains.
Massimo Ferretti, chairman of Moschino’s parent company, Aeffe SpA, has said the designer change was necessary.
“Every now and again, fashion needs to be renovated and shaken,” said Ferretti. “Just as Franco did in the eighties.”
What many fashion bloggers anticipated to be a very controversial assortment turned out to be an overall accepted and even liked collection. In fact, the lateness of celebrity Katy Perry, who held up the show for an hour, made the crowd more unpleased than the quirkiness of the collection did. (It went from boos to cheers in a short period of time.)
Refinery29, Vogue, Style.com, and Glam had no complaints. Woman’s Wear Daily only had one complaint – and that was only because of Scott waiting on Perry and leaving fashion mavens waiting for the show to begin.
“Today’s Moschino presentation was a crowd-pleaser. Katy Perry and her friends in the front row were eating it up,” Tim Banks of Style.com said. “Scott’s embrace of consumer culture in the name of Moschino was bright, brash, and ingenious.”
“The crowd certainly lapped it up,” Women’s Wear Daily acknowledged that happy crowd. “From the SpongeBob SquarePants sweaters and leather goods to Scott’s take on slogan chic: a sleek mink coat with ‘Fur Real’ in intarsia and a white leather suit with black splotches reading ‘Cash Cow.’”
Commenters on WWD article also seemed to think that the collection was successful.
“Kudos to Mr. Scott,” commented WWD site visitor Bacchus. “Never did like his work but this seems a fine fit and with the house’s execution, may just be a match made in heaven…”
Facebook users all around loved Scott’s bravery and wit.
“Some much needed wit and humor injected back into fashion again! ….Everything lately has gotten so pretentious and is just a pose that’s trying too hard to be ‘cool’,” Facebook user Eddi Frantz commented. “It was all crumbling under the weight of its own seriousness. Fashion needs to smile a bit more. It’s been a long time.”
Some users didn’t have lengthy, in-depth things to say about it, but still showed their adoration for his work.
“Impossible not to love!” Facebook user Marina Colerato said.
“Nowhere could the appearance of a McDonald’s reference seem so out of context and therefore appear so strong, than in a country that fetishizes its local cuisine, and where fast food has still largely to infiltrate,” Kerry Olson at Vogue wrote. Despite the wackiness of the collection, she praised Scott’s decision to dedicate pieces to conformity. “Smartly, though there was a dedication to some form of conformity too, seen in the label’s ladylike silhouettes; mainly pencil skirts, fitted jackets, and evening coats.”
The biggest downfall of the Moschino show was not the collection itself, but the appearance of Katy Perry (and the fact that she was an hour late). Otherwise, Scott’s collection received good feedback from fashion critics and fans.
“Amazing work! A pure presentation/mirror of our ironic time. Which is what fashion is all about. I was left really high by how intricate and intelligent the collection is. The mixing of the different codes is sooo crazy!!” Facebook user Maria Jaber praised. “You brought many of us faith that you could still play and absorb like a child, and then execute like a master. Chapeau bas! And thank you, a real big thank you Jeremy Scott.”