Tonight in Los Angeles the Moschino circus came to town. “I see my role in fashion as bringing the fun,” said creative director Jeremy Scott, standing inside a big-top tent complete with cotton candy vendors, caged plush tigers, and models mingling with stilt walkers, balloon-animal artists, and plate-spinning clowns. “And what could be more fun than a circus?”
The theme for Resort 2019, Scott’s largest show to date for Moschino, was razzle-dazzle, and there was no shortage of showmanship. The designer opened the carnival himself in a ringmaster-inspired tracksuit with gold braiding with his signature skeleton bone pattern, promising the crowd: “You will see death-defying acts of glamour! You will see beading and embroidery never before attempted in a setting like this.” Indeed, everyone from clown to lion tamer to trapeze artist was represented in this collection of striped Lurex knits; graphic harlequin leather biker jackets, pants, and skirts; jewel-tone lamé separates; and tuxedos and tails in multicolored, sequined zebra, tiger, and leopard prints. Asymmetrical body-con dresses felt reminiscent of the strong-man unitard, while any magician would have been spoiled for choice with the tulle, ostrich-feather, and silk capes.
Clowns have been a recurring theme for Scott over the years—he did hippie clowns in 2012 and psychedelic ones in 2015. For Resort, looks were accessorized with clownishly oversize cravats, sunglasses, and whimsical parasols; “but take away the ties and the top hats and you see there are pieces here,” said the designer. As the crowd put down their popcorn to applaud the grand finale—an aerial acrobatics display by burlesque performer Violet Chachki—Scott added, “I was hoping to end the show being shot out of a cannon, but it was going to take eight months of training and I didn’t have the time.”
