Franco Moschino
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Francisco Moschino (born February 27, 1950 - September 18, 1994) was an Italian fashion designer remembered for his playful, quirky designs.
He was born in Abbiategrasso, Lombardy, Italy, located 14 miles from Milan. Before becoming a fashion designer, he attended Accademia delle Belle Arti in Milan to study fine arts in 1967 hoping to become a painter. To finance his studies, he worked as a freelance fashion illustrator. Eventually, his interest shifted from paints and canvases to fabric and tailoring. His fashion career began in 1971 when he became an illustrator for Gianni Versace, and continued to work for him for another six years. In 1977 he became a designer for Cadette.
He waited until 1983 to found his own company Moonshadow, and launched Moschino Couture in the same year. At first, he designed casualwear and jeans, but his line eventually expanded to lingerie, eveningwear, shoes, menswear and perfumes. In 1988, he launched a less expensive Cheap and Chic line. His designs were very innovative and unusual such as quilted black denim miniskirt with plastic fried eggs decorating the hemline, quilted jacket decorated with bottle tops, plug-socket drop earrings, and bodices made out of safety pins. Because of this, he dubbed as Jean-Paul Gaultier of Italian fashion for his highly innovative designs but their styles are different; while Gaultier experiments with different fabrics and shapes, Moschino used basic forms and traditional methods. He also spoofed high fashion lines through his clothes. For example, "Expensive jacket" was embroidered in gold across the back of a cashmere jacket, and "Bull chic" on a matador-styled outfit. He also mocked the fashion classics such as the Chanel jacket with garish trimmings and details. Ironically, people rushed to wear his clothes, thus becoming successful and famous in the industry he satirized. Since his early death in 1994, Rosella Jardini has directed Moschino which continues to be popular to this date. His clothes are worn by celebrities such as Gwyneth Paltrow, Alicia Silverstone, and Anna Friel.
