Following the shock departure of Jeremy Scott — Moschino’s creative director of more than a decade — in March, the Italian fashion house known for its camped up, tongue-in-cheek designs has been without a chief designer. For September’s Milan Fashion Week, the house enlisted the help of four international stylists to design capsule collections dedicated to Franco Moschino, who founded the house in 1983.
On October 16, Scott’s successor was finally announced as Davide Renne, the Tuscan designer who is best known for having designed womenswear at Gucci for more than two decades, where he rose to the position of head designer of womenswear. His debut Moschino collection will be for autumn/winter ’24, shown in February.
“Franco Moschino had a nickname for his design studio: la sala giochi, the playroom. This resonates deeply with me,” Renne said in a statement. “What fashion — Italian fashion especially, and the House of Moschino most of all —can achieve with its enormous power should be accomplished with a sense of play, of joy.”
So much suggests Renne will look to bring as much wit to the brand as its founder, who dressed models in logo shopping bag dresses and teddy bear helmets. After Moschino died due to Aids-related causes in 1994, Italian designer Rossella Jardini took the helm until 2013, when she was replaced by Scott, who is American. Under Renne, the house will return to Italian leadership.
“Today, we welcome Davide to the Moschino family,” says Massimo Ferretti, executive chairman of Aeffe SpA, the conglomerate which acquired the company in 1999. “Franco used to say that bad manners are the only true bad taste and, getting to know Davide, I have been struck not only by his obvious talent but by his kindness, his sensibility. We are confident that he will play a pivotal role in shaping the future of Moschino, a global House with an Italian heart, and a truly unique DNA in the luxury industry.”
News of Renne’s appointment will also prompt further questions surrounding diversity in leading design roles at top-tier luxury houses. Last month, as Seán McGirr was appointed creative director of Alexander McQueen, a viral post on social media highlighted conglomerate Kering’s stable of creative directors are now all white men.
