INDUSTRY INSPO Moschino’s Spring 2021 Creates Alternative To Physical Fashion Shows, Ft. Marionettes
In a fanciful rework of the conventional fashion show, Jeremy Scott has delivered Moschino’s Spring 2021 collection in a fantastical escapist moment in fashion. Blending a traditional salon format with an unexpected feature, Moschino suspends belief in a surprising meeting of mediums - film and marionettes.
In the pre-pandemic world, a collaboration between Moschino and Jim Henson’s Creature Shop may have seemed like a relatively strange encounter to say the least. But, as the world continues to grapple with unpredictable change, the adaptation has proved a stroke of creative genius during the transition period toward articulating some sort of new normal in fashion.
In an interview with Vogue, Scott revealed that he had been searching for an innovative vehicle to present the Spring 2021 collection. He aimed to somehow replicate and transfer the whimsical charm that comes part and parcel with a physical show format in conjunction with film, and decided on the unexpected amalgamation of adding the highly ornate marionettes during lockdown.
“I started thinking about how I would present the collection, how would it be together, and how would I show this, and how would this work and all these complex questions that none of us had answers for. And then I just felt like this collection could be so beautiful if I showed it on marionettes.”
It wasn’t too far removed from Scott’s previous work, having been the first in fashion to dress the iconic Jim Henson character, Miss Piggy. Scott also aimed to draw inspiration from a by-gone era of fashion, the Théâtre de la Mode, a touring exhibit of mannequins a third of the size of human scale that were used by top Paris designers to present new collections following World War II.
Moschino’s film is an all-encompassing celebration of fashion’s history and its place in the present, without striving too hard to incorporate flashy virtual mediums that seem to be on the up at the moment. As the industry moves through this transition period, it seems all too easy to fall into trendy mediums of presentation that can unwittingly reach beyond consumer comforts and erase the human side of the industry, a point which Scott elaborates on during his interview with Vogue: “they are the same physicality, these marionettes. I did different faces and features, and tried to capture different beauties and different hairstyles, but ultimately it’s not the same energy that a human gives. So, I wanted to make sure that it just always had a vibration.”
It’s a welcome escapist moment in fashion, one that is relatable and traverses along a similar vein to Dior’s widely loved Autumn/Winter 2021 campaign of ethereal doll-inspired miniatures. Such a moment is sure to stand above other brands, many of which have been eager to ride the wave of virtual shows, perhaps without first considering more visionary alternatives.
Moschino’s moment is inspired and irrevocably one to be held in high esteem, and should be deservingly gilded in accolades for its thoughtful presentation and insightful fantasy.