I love Jeremy Scott because we seem to share the lifestyle sentiment that more is more, and his fall 2016 ready-to-wear collection for Moschino at Milan Fashion Week was no exception.
The theme was inspired by the 15th century Bonfire of the Vanities, during which a group of anti-Renaissance monks bombarded the city of Florence, burning objects of beauty along the way–artworks, books, mirrors, clothing, musical instruments–basically anything that might incite vanity or forms of self-expression.
True to Scott’s signature literalism, the collection saw garments with singed edges and holes burned through. A few looks even smoked (literally, thanks to portable smoke machines) down the runway. Dominated by a large biker-chick aesthetic, the collection featured lots of black leather with gold and silver zippers, buckles and chains, complemented by a sprinkling of brightly colored voluminous taffeta pieces à la prom 1983. These looks were topped with various styles of black leather motorcycle caps; some featured the signature gold or silver-plated “MOSCHINO” logos–others read “MAD WARRIOR” and “BIKER GANG” scrawled in white paint. Further repeat statements included dangling cigarette earrings, oversized matchbook prints and architectural lace-net veils courtesy of milliner extraordinaire Stephen Jones. Closer to the finale we saw a chandelier gown featuring over 80,000 Swarovski crystals, and a gown with piano keys dangling from top to bottom.
In line with his penchant for appropriating pop-culture symbols, Scott adopted the Marlboro cigarette packaging, replacing the logo with “MOSCHINO” and the surgeon generals warning of “smoking kills” with “fashion kills.” This comment harkens back to the late Franco Moschino’s trademark satirization of the fashion industry at large. One oversized graphic T-shirt even read, “WARNING: QUITTING FASHION NOW GREATLY REDUCES SERIOUS RISKS TO YOUR HEALTH.”
One of the most re-blogged looks features a long sleeved black knit mini dress printed with cigarette smoking red lips. I happen to own an incredible Manish Arora jacket which features a variation on this same print. The jacket is black wool and cropped with military-inspired black leather detailing. The lips are velvet with a sparkly iridescent embroidery and the cigarettes are 3D. It can be worn many different ways, but in keeping with the Moschino collection, I decided to pair it with a black body-con mini dress, black fishnet stockings, vintage black leather knee-high Ann Demeulemeester boots, two vintage Moschino gold-plated logo belts (because more is more) and, of course, a bright red lip. I’d like to think that Moschino himself would have given this look a red-lipped kiss of approval.
Get My Look: 1. Moschino cigarette smoking red lip print dress. 2. Moschino gold-plated logo belt. 3. Black knee-high boots.
