Toward the tail end of Adrian Appiolaza’s latest Moschino trip, a model wandered out like some post-apocalyptic cherub, cloaked in a T-shirt dress stamped with a giant baby face. Above its head: a cartoonish thought bubble yelling “STOP!” Like a cry for help mid-TikTok scroll, it was a jarring, sweet, and slightly deranged message from the next generation or maybe just a reminder that we’re torching their future for a dopamine hit. Somewhere in the ether, that old Native American proverb whispers: we do not inherit the earth from our parents, we borrow it from our children. Yeah. That.
Since parachuting into Moschino about a year and a half ago, Appiolaza’s been keeping things mostly playful, ducking the kind of overt socio-political jabs that made Franco Moschino a darling of the fashion resisté. But this season? He cracked the surface. With an eye on arte povera—the Italian “poor art” movement that made poetry out of trash—he dug into the aesthetic of desperation. And found beauty.
What does that look like in 2025? A cocktail dress MacGyvered out of old potato sacks. A patchwork of worn-out graphic tees stitched into something almost couture. Vintage deadstock sliced and reshaped. Raffia shoes inspired by toilet brushes (yes, really). Ropes where rhinestones used to go. It’s giving landfill chic, in the best way.
Appiolaza’s Moschino isn’t afraid to get weird. Gag bags? Still going strong. This time: a plastic sand bucket, a kitchen saucepan, a cardboard clutch that felt like a wink (or side-eye?) to Jeremy Scott’s overconsumption meltdown of FW17. It’s DIY, it’s punk, it’s Etsy if Etsy was nihilist and fabulous.
All of it hits differently right now, as the planet edges closer to oceanic collapse—seventh boundary out of nine, gone. Acid in the sea, fire in the sky, and still… designers cling to commerciality like it’s a lifeboat. But Appiolaza’s whispering a different mantra: reuse, recycle, reimagine.
Still, fashion is fashion. Rhetoric’s easy; revenue isn’t. The big Q looms: how does Appiolaza turn a cardboard clutch and a slogan tee into something sustainable for the brand? Eventually, he’s going to have to lock in a silhouette. A jacket line. A pant cut. Something repeatable. Iconic. Sellable. Because logos, slogans, and smiley tees are cute—until they aren’t.
