©ourtesy of Sarah Harris @ Vogue.uk
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MOSCHINO
turns 30 this year and celebrations have been non-stop. As one would
expect from a house such as this, a milestone anniversary was never
going to slip by, unnoticed. The Italians already staged a runway show
in Shanghai earlier this year, and everyone was expecting something
bigger and better on home turf this week. Invitations arrived
accompanied by a boxed white t-shirt branded “For Fashion Victims Only,”
and for days now, rumours have been circling of Gloria Gaynor set to
perform
I am what I am. Those rumours proved true. The show opened with video footage of founder
Franco Moschino,
who died in 1994 from complications of AIDS, aged just 44. It was a
poignant moment, but show-goers, fuelled by champagne supped in the
courtyard, were in the mood for a party and with that, the curtain
opened and out popped Pat Cleveland in that full-skirted “cow” gown (the
same gown she wore 30 years ago, in 1983 for the house’s first ever
fashion show). The crowd lapped it up whooping and cheering.
Only in Milan. Other archival hits followed, such as the clustered teddy bear hat and scarf, and a ball gown made from bin bags.
The
spring collection that followed is best described as a catalogue of
reworked greatest hits, from safety-pinned embellished black jackets
with ring-pull zip pockets, to rose-printed dresses, gingham bloomers,
monochrome ruffle-collared skirt suits and T-shirts emblazoned “Niente”
and a caftan that read “Holy Chic”. Everything was trussed up on good
girls or bad girls, the former accessorised with pearls, the latter with
brassy gold chains, hoop earrings, and those shouty logo belts. It was
humorous, delightful, outrageous and ridiculous and in all, a thoroughly
fitting tribute by
Rossella Jardini,
Frano Moschino’s friend and former assistant who took up the reins in
the mid Nineties – and yes, there are many pieces here that will prove
to be commercial hits too, when these clothes land in stores in spring –
but in truth, that wasn’t really the point of it all this evening. Take
it away Gaynor…!
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