The year 2013 marks the 30th anniversary of Moschino. The weight of history is strong behind the brand, but so is the need to keep refreshing, so Rossella Jardini and her band took their show to Shanghai, opting out of Milan fashion week. "We looked back, but it's important to look forward as well," said Bill Shapiro, Jardini's menswear lieutenant.
The show included the new collection as well as a selection of looks from the Moschino archive, worn by a cast of entirely Asian models. If the land-grab aspirations of such a move are fairly blatant, well, subtlety has never been Moschino's strong suit. It's hardly news that Asia is an important market for fashion—it may quickly become the important market. And the fearlessness many Asian customers bring to their own styling, especially where menswear is concerned, make it a natural fit for Moschino's antic wackiness. "They're more courageous," said Jardini.
The collection paid homage—in some cases, maybe too much homage—to the works of its namesake. Shapiro and Jardini created patchworks of old Moschino prints, which were eye straining even for those accustomed to the Moschino glare; Franco himself had once done cloud prints, so his inheritors took it a step further to turn clouds into storm. They were on surer footing where the influence was more measured, as in the survival jackets, similar to those the brand once produced but now fitted for iPhone accessories as well. Its teddy-bear iPhone cases could be mega-hits. Who could be stormy about such a possibility as that?
The show closed with an eveningwear section of silk-tie jacquards in red, the Chinese color of luck. The label, already three stores strong in Shanghai, will have 42 across China by the end of 2014. So fortune may still favor the brave, even if this collection wasn't Moschino at its strongest.
