Jeremy Scott Brings Out Katy Perry and A$AP Rocky At His Pitti Uomo Moschino Show

Jeremy Scott pulled out all the stops for his Moschino show at Pitti Uomo 88.

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Complex Original

Image via Complex Original

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Pitti Immagine is packed with designers that represent everything from streetwear, to sneakers, to family run Italian tailors. But from the moment that Pitti Uomo 88 kicked off, the everyone was saying one thing only: "I can't wait for Moschino."

Since Jeremy Scott took over the brand in 2013, he's wowed fans of both the Italian fashion house and his eponymous line, capitalizing on the cheekiness that's embedded in the DNA of both brands. Any fan of Scott's will tell you that the designer likes to "go big," making the Palazzo Corsini al Parione—a baroque palace covered wall-to-wall in classical Italian paintings—the perfect setting for his Pitti Uomo runway show. As Scott said himself, "Could you have this show anywhere else? [The Palazzo Corsini al Parione] is like the créme de la créme, the cherry on top."

But while Scott was certainly at home in the opulence of the Palazzo, even he had new tricks up his sleeve. Like any mansion, there's rooms upon rooms of beautiful space, and Scott planned to use every inch. Models were to walk not one runway, but several, as they made their way around winding rooms.

 

"I've never shown in small little rooms," Scott told Complex. He continued, "I just fell in love with it, with all those frescos." Scott doubled down on the Italian artwork by photographing the paintings only to rework them into a rug below. "When you're in the room, you have this cylinder feeling, and within it comes this ovalesque of light. I wanted to create a light up-dance floor effect... especially with the colors."

The opulence of the whole event was challenged only by the arrival of Scott's personal friends A$AP Rocky and Katy Perry (who recently took on the role as the face of the brand). While the scene was extravagant, seeing Scott's close friends made the event intimate and personal in a way that mirrored many of the private showings and familial gatherings seen throughout the week here in Florence.

It was obvious that Scott was going to use his playful edge to contrast against the regal surroundings, and as the opulent venue quieted and the proceedings began, it only became more obvious. The first look down the runway was something like Mozart-meets-motocross, spiraling into something that while absolutely luxurious in a classical Italian way, was still tongue-in-cheek enough to scream “Rock me Amadeus.”

“I was inspired by this idea of Casanova, of Fellini. I was thinking about 2001: A Space Odyssey, and even “Stayin’ Aive,” Scott said of his inspirations. On the earlier, motorsport-inspired looks: "With menswear I always think about what would I want to do, what would I want to wear. I've always loved all of the racing and motocross outfits those athletes wear; all the emblems, and the patches and the iconography. But often, those things are so tight...that even skinny guys don't want to wear something that skin-tight. So I wanted to make something that had ruffles; tuxedo jackets with tails; and structured garments, but still has that feeling, that movement. I felt like it was a new approach to those pieces."

The sportier pieces naturally shifted into a string of pieces that embodied Scott's aformentioned interest in structured garments, playing on the traditional and regal fabrics of Italian history. “These mixes of decadence, and futurism, along with something ancient and historical. I wanted that contrast. Because of that, I wanted all the fabrics to be rich and elegant; jacquards, and laces…but I still wanted them to feel uniquely mine. I created these black outlines of these cartoon elements to screen on top of [the fabrics] so they would have this twist that… even if there was an inspiration from the 1800s, that these were very modern, today, and uniquely mine."

But one could argue that the best parts of the presentation were in the accessories, with models wearing papier-mâché​ crowns, golden chains, and custom, moto-inspired sneakers. 

"For the opening looks I was inspired by cyclists and motocross—race car drivers. They're elements that I've always loved, with the logos and the other elements," says Scott. "But I had never gotten the chance to do anything that was a mix with tuxedos and putting those other elements together. So, for me, the contrast of having sneakers—where I took that [Italian tuxedo] element and put that into the sneakers... I thought that was good contrast."

Scott described the details as "bling-bling from another time period."

What Scott did at Pitti was just a continuation of the tradition he's already crafted during his first couple of years with Moschino. Yes, the Italian luxury is there. It's part of Moschino as an Italian house. But Scott isn't one to ignore the playful side of fashion, and it's his most ardent fans who see that in all of his work—from adidas, to Moschino.

As A$AP Rocky said to Complex after the show, "I'm just happy that [fashion people] fuck with him. Moschino's shit since the '90s, and the '70s hasn't been as fun. But now that Jeremy is there, it's fun again. He's bringing his whole 'Jeremy aesthetic' that he does at adidas. He manifested that fun—that colorful shit—and took that and put it into his collections."

Making Pitti Uomo fun? There's no one better for the job than Jeremy Scott.

 

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