Moschino held its Fall show in a local restaurant, Giannino, that boasts it's been around dal 1899. There was a sweet homecoming dimension to the choice, since Franco Moschino held his first men's show at Giannino (albeit the old location, hard by the company offices). But the choice wasn't simply nostalgic. "This season it was important for us to give options for clients," explained Bill Shapiro, Moschino's current menswear designer. "The idea of doing a show in a restaurant—we liked the idea that there's a menu to choose from. People like Moschino for different things." He himself wears the more traditional, tailored clothes; diehards go for the novelty prints.
The stated theme was tartan, a material similarly flexible: It's as comfortable going trad as punk. (And given that the Met is toasting punk this spring, expect to see a lot more of it in the months to come.) Yet despite a few showpiece items, like safety-pin-snared dinner jackets and waistcoats, the show as a whole struck a more muted note than many that have come before. Moschino is on the hunt for bigger business, and some of its stores are requesting more "probable" clothes. The plaid suits, coats, pants, and parkas on display here were perfectly nice, but seemed lost with the odder shows of seasons past. (A series screen-printed with the Tokyo skyline didn't gel.) Expanded menu or not, this collection felt neither fish nor fowl.
