Moschino Staged a 40th-Anniversary Fashion Play for SS24

Celebrating 40 years in business, Moschino’s Spring/Summer 2024 show went beyond the standards of a runway; instead, it was a multi-act play composed by four House friends — Carlyne Cerf de Dudzeele, Gabriella Karefa-Johnson, Lucia Liu and Katie Grand — that intermingled archive-inspired fashion with performance arts.

As a whole, the collection was inspired by Franco Moschino’s revered silhouettes from the ’80s and ’90s. With this time capsule in mind, each of the aforementioned creators independently drafted their own referential vision board, with the ultimate goal of illustrating the breadth of the founder’s codes from four different points of view.

At the venue, big red curtains were drawn open, and Cerf de Dudzeele’s source-coded inventions entered the arena for Act One. To centuries-old music, the French stylist’s designs offered an homage to Franco’s timelessness. White, double-breasted suits met grey pleated trousers and black turtlenecks, while small heart-shaped bags added a subtle flair of fun. The silhouettes were largely pared-back, but they were dressed up with regal necklaces and earrings, locating the fine balance between classy and opulent.

Karefa-Johnson’s works came next, marking the start of Act Two. “I relied heavily on recreating and changing styles from the early ’90s shows to update silhouette and fabrication but still wanted that energy to peek through,” she said. “Let’s call it NOWstalgia!” The resulting capsule reimagined Franco’s classic cowboy hats, statement jewelry and crochet dresses for the modern woman; and with Beyonce’s “PURE/HONEY” pounding in the backdrop, KJ’s eccentric energy permeated the attentive room.

For Act Three, Liu stepped into the limelight with a romantic lineup that took a conceptual approach to building new motifs, galvanized by Franco’s famous “Protect Me from Fashion System” T-shirt. The output was ethereal, with an abundance of gold, heart-shaped hardware and floral embroidery planted on fluffy, rouched and dainty silhouettes.

Grand, who paid close attention to Franco’s reactiveness, readied a range that was both parts tasteful and taunting for Act Four. “[Franco's] use of slogans was deeply appealing, and the idea of LOUD LUXURY came to me quite quickly,” she said. “It felt current.” Blaring, in fact, it was: several bodysuits featured massive question marks and exclamation points; others boldly outlined the human form in black and white, and a number of pieces made their point clear with colossal lettering reading “LOUD LUXURY!”

Enhancing the spectacle further, Grand’s collection was modeled on top-tier dancers, who performed choreography by Wayne McGregor, the artistic director of Studio Wayne McGregor and the resident choreographer for The Royal Ballet. “Franco’s shows were always conceptual,” said Grand. “That was their intrinsic appeal for me.”

Dance was followed by a song, in Act Five. Laura Marzadori performed a violin rendition of “I Am What I Am,” nodding to Moschino’s Fall/Winter 1986 fashion show. As the instrumental echoed through the room, the cast of models emerged once more, wearing charitable T-shirts made in partnership with the Elton John AIDS Foundation, which are now available to purchase on the brand’s website and inside its Milan flagship store.

See Moschino’s Spring/Summer 2024 collection in the gallery above, and stay tuned to Hypebeast for more Milan Fashion Week coverage.