Moschino has today (January 30) announced the appointment of its new creative director Adrian Appiolaza.
The Argentinian designer, 51, is best known in the industry for holding his position as Women’s Ready-to-Wear Design Director at Loewe for ten years, where he worked on designs worn by Beyoncé, Kim Kardashian and Taylor Russell.
Prior to this role, where he worked with creative director JW Anderson, Appiolaza studied at London's Central Saint Martins before taking on roles at Chloé under the leadership of Phoebe Philo, Miu Miu, Louis Vuitton and Marc Jacobs. In 2012 he returned to Chloé as Designer Director under Clare Waight Keller.
The news comes after a tragic sequence of events at the Italian house following the shock departure of Jeremy Scott — Moschino’s creative director of more than a decade — in March. In October it was announced that David Renne, the designer from Tuscany, Italy, who was best known for having designed womenswear at Gucci for more than two decades, would be the successor. Nine days into his tenure he died from a “sudden illness,” according to a statement from the company’s owner, Aeffe SpA.
Appiolaza will show his debut collection for Moschino during the autumn winter 2024 collections, on February 22, in Milan. “We are happy and honoured to welcome Adrian to the Aeffe family," says Massimo Ferretti, Chairman of Aeffe S.pA, in the announcement. "With his arrival at Moschino, Adrian brings with him a unique wealth of experience, creativity and knowledge of the history of fashion that will be instrumental to write a wonderful new chapter in the adventure of the brand founded by Franco Moschino.”
“I was immediately struck by the explosive creativity of Adrian, a personality full of energy and enthusiasm, elements that have always distinguished the history of the Moschino brand,” he said.
"The jackets with 3-D postcards, the dress with a skirt made with twenty bras, the countless trompe-l'oeil: as a creative and a collector, the list of creations by Franco Moschino that have entered the history of fashion is almost endless,” says Appiolaza, on the rich archives of the 1983-founded house he is now tasked with leading into the future.
“The essence of his talent, for me, is to inhabit his time – a mission he carried out with enviable lightness, opening a window for all of us to imagine, in our own way, the future,” he says. “I am ready to transport the Maison into a new chapter, with a theatrical touch, in the pure style of Moschino.”
Far from the only designer to be making their first appearances this season, Appiolaza will join Seán McGirr, the newly appointed creative director of Alexander McQueen, and Chemena Kamali, who has taken on the same role at Chloé, in defining new visions for storied brands.
Other new creative directors to note this season include Alessandro Vigilante at Rochas, Walter Chiapponi at Blumarine and Matteo Tamburini at Tod's.
