MOSCHINO WOMENSWEAR SPRING/SUMMER 2023

“It’s not possible to constantly hold onto crisis. You have to have the love and you have to have the magic. That’s also life.” -Toni Morrison Moschino Spring 2023 Donna is creative director Jeremy Scott’s response to the gloom and issues we’re facing today, and its motive is mood buoyancy: We must be cognizant of what’s happening around us, yet we must also hold space for joy.

The collection is a prism of optimism. This symbolic uplift starts with daytime looks to stay afloat. Boxy jackets, sporty dresses and functional skirts feature faux-blow up hearts, a reimagining of the famed Moschino icon.

A direct twist on the word “inflation” then starts to enter the relief, with pool toys, life rafts and life preservers taking shape across suiting, refined daywear, graphic-impact eveningwear and accessories, alike. A shoulder-strap cocktail dress is rendered in bright yellow, replete with a flotation device around the waist and safety cords at the bust and hem.

A noir jacket and trouser suit boasts inflatable lapels and pocket covers on the former, complete with oral valves for aerating the accents. As the lineup progresses, a touch more formality drifts to the top: A pink blazer and skirt set with floaties at the cuffs, a blow up-collar classic moto jacket paired with a midi-skirt, and a patterned column dress complemented by a pool raft stole are all part of the interplay.

The levity gets turned up a notch with the collection’s evening dresses and gowns. On one languid and draped silhouette, an inflatable swan bolero–as if out of an Art Deco Erté artwork–adds lighthearted drama.

On a one-shouldered ruffled and printed dress, a pool ring graces the waist. And, adding humor to a petal pink Grecian frock, a pair of inflatable dolphins flanks the arms. In Moschino’s long-standing manner, each piece in Spring holds some wink or trick of the eye, and is layered with double entendre and wit.

The inflatables are genuine or faux, signaling questions between illusion or reality (another conceptual adjunct to the complexity of our era). Ultimately, though, it’s about offsetting the negativity–of breaking through the surface into a ray of sunshine, even when the rest of the water is shadowed in gray. That’s where joy may be found