When the final model walked down the Moschino runway in Milan Fashion Week 2017 the only thing that was left on the audience’s faces was a shocked expression with jaws dropped to the floor. Brand’s creative director Jeremy Scott created a provoking collection, as always, that was made up of extraordinary materials such as cardboard, Kleenex boxes, packing tape, toilet paper and garbage bags. This unconventional use of materials was not only to draw media’s attention; Scott had a message.
The collection received many negative backlashes as anyone can imagine. Many critics were not happy with Scott playing with fashion; many said the collection was “a joke”. The highlights of the collection were the cardboard suit that consisted a shirt and a midi skirt paired with a cardboard hat worn by Kendall Jenner and the dry cleaning inspired outfit on Stella Maxwell that even had a headpiece shaped like a hanger. The young designer’s choice of material was inspired by -you guessed it- garbage. The inevitable result of consumption, garbage, inspired Scott to bring attention to various topics including recycling and brand-mania. The collection also had a direct link to Scott’s past. The designer admitted that his intern days in Moschino, which consisted of packing and unpacking boxes was a point of inspiration for him.
So does this mean cardboard tape and trash bags are trendy this season? Definitely no, with this show Scott is showing the ability to create couture. The designer explained his inspiration to press after the show, “(This show represents) a Moschino woman who is so enraptured with fashion that she wraps herself in every material to bring her closer to it. She is the antidote to the unsustainable cycles of consumption. Her cure? To take materials the rest of us reject and wear them with Moschino panache”. Couture is what you make it to be, it is not found in hundreds of dollars worth of clothing. To convey this message, the last model that walked down the runway was wearing a statement shirt, which read, “Couture is an attitude” on the front and “It’s not a price point” on the back. Scott also wanted to point out the culture of excessive consumption of the fashion industry.
Every new season new dresses, wrapped in new packaging… We do not realize how much waste is created by fashion industry. Moreover, Scott plays with the people’s addiction to brands in the most ironic way. If he can brand garbage with the infamous Moschino label, then what is fashion?
He challenges his audience with this provoking yet fun way of using materials. Jeremy Scott yet again pushed the limits of fashion and used it as a platform to convey an important message. We would not expect such a crazy show from any other brand rather than Moschino; a brand built by Franco Moschino around the idea of making profit from the fashion industry by mocking it.
by Pelin Atan
