Moschino steps out of line — with skirts

Press, 9 November 1988, Page 17

Moschino steps out of line — with skirts

NICOLA JEAL

meets the Italian clothes designer, Franco

Moschino, in Milan, where he reveals his irreverent approach to his work.

At the Italian spring summer collections last month, the message was trousers. Trousers, after cropped pants, after shorts, after trouser suits appeared on every catwalk. The bigname Italian designers have decreed that the sexy belladonna, in her wide-shouldered jacket with nipped-in waist and short skirt, is dead. They will have to wait until the northern spring to be proved right. One Italian designer who does not think women should give in without a fight is Franco Moschino. In a country where fashion is as important as the Pope and the Mafia, Moschino does not quite fit in. The man has become famous, and rich, by sending up the business he loves. His concept — he does concede to having one — is “Wear what you want.” “Use your own taste, not the taste of the press and store buyers.” There was no one dictate on Moschino’s catwalk. In fact, there were no trends at all. After his short show, the typically Moschino Sting-type ending had the designer himself shooing the models off the stage. A video was then shown, flashing up statements like “Fashion is full of chic,” "Stop going to fashion shows if you don’t want to be taken for a ride,” and “And in six months another show. Again. Are you sure?” to a packed audience of the world’s most influential buyers and fashion editors. They should have laughed. Moschino does not want to be taken seriously. Tight pants, wide pants, short skirts, long skirts — Moschino included all, and in surreal combinations: a crinoline ballgown with a biker’s jacket; a tweed jacket with a long, pointed-hem

skirt, which was, in fact, hundreds of striped and paisley ties sewn vertically together. A shiny black coat hanger was worn as a hat and a “baby” tuxedo had doll’s clothes stitched on to the skirt. But it is Moschino’s plagiarism of designers’ trademarks that causes the most comment and gets him into trouble. This time, the huge gilt buttons on a pink Chanel-type suit were replaced by tiny gold propellers, and the unmistakable Louis Vuitton brown and tan luggage print was translated into a Mrs Mop apron over a dress — “M” was swapped for “LV” “My jokes are always honest and very obviously tongue-in-cheek,” pleads Moschino. Not all agree. He is being sued by Vuitton. Chanel tried after his “Channel No 5” logos, but failed. The 38-year-old from Abbiategrasso, a small town 30km south of Milan, is passionate about his country. "I am proud of Sophia Loren, pizzas and the Renaissance, but, as designers, Italians never let themselves go. One can respect the quality and make of clothes here — it is by far the best in the world — but creativity and up-to-date style is not an Italian thing. There is no room for humour. All those perfectly cut, neu-tral-coloured suits ...” Moschino sells to Britain and America and has a huge home market. So if the Italians have no sense of humour when it comes to fashion, how did the licensees that distribute his 18 lines — including Cheap and Chic, Couture, childrenswear, jeans and underwear — turn over around $12.4

million last year? “Italian people buy my clothes because I have become a well-known designer. They have an Armani, they have a Versace and a Missoni, so they must have a Moschino label in their wardrobes,” he says. This year, a British company sent Moschino up, along with a handful of other designers. Their T-shirts were emblazoned with “designer” logos like

Jasper Condom (Jasper Conran), Jean Paul Goat Yeh (Jean Paul Gaultier), and Come on me Garcons (Comme des Garcons). For next season, he is copying their spoof on his name — Mosquifo — which means something disgusting and ugly in Italian and including it in his own collection. “I can always take a joke and now I must go and brush my hair,” said the bald designer.