Who Was Franco Moschino, visionary fashion genius

“I’m not a fashion designer. I’m a painter; a decorator. I’m not the author of a new era,” Franco Moschino once told The New York Times in 1991.This self-description was no accident: Moschino placed art at the very core of his creations and remains celebrated as one of the most eclectic and visionary figures in fashion history. Born in 1950 in Abbiategrasso, near Milan, Moschino’s early years were marked by artistic exploration. He studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Milan and later at the Istituto Marangoni, always sketching, painting, and designing for magazines and fashion houses. By the early 1970s, Moschino’s name began circulating within the fashion world. He started out as an illustrator for Gianni Versace and Genny, before stepping into a designer role at Cadette, where he succeeded the legendary Walter Albini. But it was in 1983 that he truly came into his own with the launch of his brand, Moschino Couture! under the Moonshadow company. The debut was an instant success.

Franco Moschino

From shoes and accessories to men’s and women’s clothing and fragrances, Franco Moschino was impossible to ignore, shaping the bold, shocking style of the 1980s. To him, fashion was a playground – a way to dramatize and exaggerate everyday stereotypes until they transformed into captivating, ironic stories, always fresh and unexpected. In Moschino’s hands, fashion became conceptual, artistic, and at times philosophical, as though the metaphysical world of De Chirico or the surrealist visions of Magritte had stepped into real life. To grasp Moschino’s vision is to let go of traditional rules and academic constraints. Buttons on jackets became spinning pinwheels, skirts were crafted from ties, and otherwise “serious” suits concealed cheeky fried-egg prints. His T-shirts? They featured trompe-l’oeil breasts or bore slogans like Moschifo (“Moschino + schifo,” meaning “disgust” in Italian), upending expectations with wit. Words were the glue of Moschino’s world – sometimes reinforcing a message, other times turning it entirely on its head.

When Moschino passed away from a heart attack in 1994, his brand was entrusted to his longtime assistant, Rossella Jardini. In 2013, Jeremy Scott took over as creative director, widely regarded as Moschino’s spiritual successor. Scott carried the torch with collections that embraced humor and nonconformity – his first collection was inspired by SpongeBob SquarePants and fast food. In early 2024, Adrian Appiolaza was named creative director, presenting his first show at Milan Fashion Week.

Now, on the 30th anniversary of Moschino’s passing, Milan celebrates the designer’s genius with the exhibition Franco Moschino: The Visionary Genius. Curated by Pier Paolo Pitacco and Giuseppe Mastromatteo, the show is open until December 19 at MyOwnGallery in Superstudio Più.