For Moschino’s Spring-Summer 2019 collection, Jeremy Scott shows us his daring, unabashedly ‘new-edge’ way of embracing fashion, colour, and fun.
Moschino’s style legacy has always been steeped in honest-to-goodness, seriously good, clean fun. It’s unwavering unique point of view, that of embracing fashion with an eternal – not just seasonal – sense of humour, of letting go, so as to let creativity rip, and turning ideas on their head, so they’re refreshed, reborn, and exuberant, never fails to put a smile on this fashion watcher’s face.
Truth be told, for Moschino Spring-Summer 2019, in spite of working at warp speed and getting almost no sleep to push the collection out, Scott knew that he would still not meet the deadline. But as is the case for every great artist, who dares to venture out of his comfort zone and push the envelope, Jeremy Scott did an inventive and resourceful thing – he transformed raw imagination into clever ingenuity. Behind the scenes, somewhere between panicking and not finishing, Scott’s vision struck a bigger inspiration, a more curious chord. This was when the famous Moschino-Scott inventiveness and resourcefulness kicked in and what could have been ‘oh-no still-work-in-progress’ turned into the oh-yes collection itself.
In wunderkind Moschino style, and cheekily nicknamed Unfinished Business, Scott’s Moschino Spring-Summer 2019 collection marries chic, sharp, devastatingly-ladylike and bourgeois tailoring, with the almost off-hand, madcap nature of scribbles from Sharpie and Stabilo Boss pens. Unexpected! Who knew that literal drawing board concepts could work so well with womanly silhouettes, spritely colours and luxurious textures.
The result of Scott’s mastery over controlled shapes, bright hues, and his combining it with impetuous squiggles and elegant multi-textured evening looks, is a tight collection that’s at once charming, delightful and a wearable throwback to the cool ’80s – simply perfect for the cheerier, warmer months of the year.
Out of the extensive 66-look collection, standout ensembles include sexy pants suits with a twist of bow details, midriffs that show some skin, and updated ’80s trousers.
Also prim and proper old-money Park Avenue frocks that run the gamut of structured jacket- and shirt-dresses, shoulder-baring weekend summer shifts, to flouncy wrap party dresses with exaggerated sleeves, bubble hem, and three-quarter sleeves.
Scott’s Moschino Spring-Summer 2019 collection makes matching top-to-toe – that’s hat, apparel, bag and shoes – new again. His two-piece wonders, the likes of jacket or top and pants combos, skirts suits, miniskirt and cropped top pairs, pussybow blouses and hip-hugging skirts, are work and weekend-friendly.
Holiday swimsuits, transparent raincoats and a see-through boucle jacket with Sharpie scratchings are surely summer successes high on the comfort and cool quotients too.
As sure as celestial bodies shine at night, his scintillating gowns are true evening stars. Scott captures classic ’80s elegance with a slew of iconic asymmetrical numbers with single puffed sleeves, a devil-may-care devore bustier jumpsuit, a red off-shoulder bow-embellished cloak-of-sorts, with quirky pin-cushion hat, a bustier evening dress with shoulder drape, one with a gigantic bow bustle and train, a scintillating body-con dress in beading and sequins, with matching mime artist skull cap, and a shimmering gown he made from picking up every golden needle on the floor of the atelier that ALSO comes with a witty golden thimble hat. Equally droll is how he fashioned pair of pattern cutter’s scissors into an unforgettable evening look.
Then came the bride, like a white blossom, in a short bubble confection, with attached headgear and veil, and an entourage of ethereal multi-coloured butterflies.
Take away the exuberant colours, iconic prints, and transformative textures, and the collection could well just be wearable sketches stripped of joy. Scott chose only colours that matter – orange, purple, red, white, black, blue, pink and yellow – then paired and blended them in a way that makes the eye twinkle. Where Scott had intended polka dots or colour blocking artistry, he sagely changed tack, and delivered the pieces almost as they appeared on his drawing board, as he drew them!
Of course some decorations are more wholly achieved, like the familiar sketched heart, Moschino’s devore and chain print, and a pretty animalia design that he was colouring in even as the show began.
That said, no Moschino collection is complete without a bona fide top-to-toe accessories wardrobe, through which more of the fun and colour can be channeled. Conversation-starter purses constructed like folded-up motorcycle jackets, slim document clutches, bear-print ’80s drawstring bags, elegant apparel-matching slingback heels and clutches, and of course, the collection’s signature Andalusian-inspired hat that features in nearly every look, and in various incarnations of print.
And this season’s piece de resistance – the Big Bird-yellow tape measure ruffle worn like a swanky feather boa. This comes with a matching purse that’s an instant collector’s item.
At the end of the day, from not over-thinking and by instinct alone, Scott manages to pull off a collection that’s as much entertainment as it is a joyful wardrobe, a definite shopping do for a season that demands much colour-, texture-, sketch- and print-on-show.
She Sparks Joy in Moschino S/S ’19
Charisse Sky, mother-of-2 and Pack Leader at Crucycle, personifies Spring in Jeremy Scott’s rendition of wearable art, really what Moschino’s S/S ’19 is all about. Brief and sexy, yet comfy and covered-up, this cute, clever number is perfect for ensuring that she slays it in the chic department, while being out and about doing everyday things. It’s city-friendly and standout, spot-on for life in our little red dot. In other words, classic Moschino.
Shop MOSCHINO at: Paragon, #01-04/05; and Bay Level, 01-15, The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands.
All images courtesy of Moschino, artwork by Curatedition.
