After the Moschino Circus for Resort 19 and “Illegal Aliens” for Fall/Winter 18, Jeremy Scott went back to basics and really toned things down for Moschino‘s Spring/Summer 19 collection … well, in terms of the runway set at least. There was a squarish white runway, with bales of cloth standing vertically in a glass holder, a mood board, and a lone mannequin as the backdrop. And, when the first model opened the show, we began to see that Scott was transporting us to his design studio, and into his creative mind. The first half of the show showcased an “unfinished” look, while the second half signified dresses and gowns that were in the later stages of the design process, yet to a large extent, still somewhat incomplete.

In terms of Scott’s choice of soundtrack for the show, he selected a mashup of Classical Music pieces so I guess this is where my Classical Music training comes in handy because the pieces were instantly recognisable. While the term “mashup” isn’t traditionally used the Classical vernacular, I’m using the term because he also transitioned from one piece to another with the “scratching” technique used by DJs. The show began with J.S. Bach’s Badinerie (which I myself have performed on the flute on several occasions during recitals in my earlier days as a student), followed by Cavatina: Largo Al Factotum Della Citta from the opera Barbiere Di Siviglia (“The Barber of Seville”) by Rossini, Smetana’s Ma Vlast (“My Fatherland”) specifically the second symphonic poem, Vitava, the Panorama Suite from Tchaikovsky’s ballet, The Sleeping Beauty, the First Movement of Mozart’s Symphony No.40 in G minor, K550, followed by another Mozart piano piece, Rondo Alla Turca (“Turkish March”, which would probably be the piece most familiar to all of us), and finally, another familiar tune, La Donne e Mobile from the Verdi opera Rigoletto, for the climactic moment, i.e. the finale of the show.

In Act One, the clothes, like the completely white runway, were also completely white, but coloured in with broad marker pen strokes that we see in the first stages of fashion design: the design sketch. Here we saw design elements like the Moschino gold chains and several prints, which were coloured in and dotted with marker pens. Here, we saw some of the classic Moschino elements like the question mark emblem, the teddy bear, sweat suits, the love and peace symbols, as well as denim jackets.

Act 2 consisted of evening looks, but this time, the broad marker pen strokes were covered up by sequins. Some models, too, were carrying and cradling bales of cloth, that were still attached to their gowns and dresses, sometimes serving as adjustable trains, depending on how far they threw out to unroll the cloth, thus suggesting that fabric was still being draped onto the “live models” before being cut and sewn, thus signifying an incomplete final product, albeit being further into the design process compared to the “sketched” looks of the First Act. This was also where things became more fantastical, with thimble hats, a tape measure boa on a ” walking mannequin”, a scissors gown, and a pincushion chapeau. Gigi Hadid then strutted down the runway with the closing look: a white cocoon, with a kaleidoscope of fluttering butterflies, carried by men in completely black bodysuits trailing behind Gigi, the cocoon bride, yet to metamorphose into a butterfly, to give the illusion as if the train and butterflies were holding up the train on their own.

We can always count on Scott for social commentary, and he did just that, yet again. While the show served as a partial exposé to the design process which is often, rendered invisible as what we see on the runways are only the final outcomes, and never the pre-production stages, what was more obvious to me, was the use of the soundtrack to help convey his message. At first, the soundtrack was a befuddling choice, because it seemed to be at a dissonance to the looks that were coming down the runway. But upon deeper analysis, it became clear that since the collection was a sort of tribute to the “high fashion” haute couturiers with the oversized bows that cinched the waist, pouf-sleeved tops, puffy skirts, and wrap dresses, it certainly made sense that he took a “high culture” or “High Art” approach where the soundtrack is concerned which, as we saw in his designs, were ironic and somewhat parodic representations of the now archaic dichotomisation between “high culture” and “low culture”.

Images via Vogue Runway