gigi hadid-moschino
Gigi Hadid opens and closes the Moschino SS 22 show. Photo by Gotham/GC Images

Supermodel Gigi Hadid’s much-buzzed return to the runway included opening and closing Moschino’s SS ’22 collection, which was a riot of technicolor baby bits mélanged with classic lady silhouettes. Who better than a new mother—Hadid’s daughter Khai was born a year ago—to viscerally understand that baby fever can shift from flights of fancy to total delirium in the blink of a sleepless night?

Under a drizzly sky in Bryant Park, celebs like Megan Fox, Annita, and Diplo waited patiently beneath open umbrellas for the live-streamed show to start (40 minutes late, ay!) At least they had the Moschino logo on a floral topiary to look at while supermodels Irina Shayk, Precious Lee, Winnie Harlow and Soo Joo Park got Baby Lady-fied.

Megan Fox at Moschino
Megan Fox and Thomas Doherty attend the Moschino SS 2022 show. Photo by Gotham/GC Images

Creative director Jeremy Scott fully referenced progenitor Franco Moschino’s mockery of all things staid—Dior’s New Look, Chanel’s quilted suits—and tossed a goo-goo grenade on it. Broad riffs on the Care Bears, My Little Pony and nostalgic nursery rhymes showed up on achingly feminine sheaths, shirt dresses, and two-piece suits with nipped-in waists and Peter Pan collars. 

Rather than ladies who lunch, this collection should appeal to the ladies who ‘shroom, but Scott’s gifted at giving psychedelia an haute and humorous touch.

Accessories have always been Moschino’s gateway drug and this season is no exception: bangles look like teething rings, multi-colored diaper pins dangle from plastic chain-link belts, and purses resemble toddler toys. Expect waiting lists for this kind of kitsch.

 

Evening wear was where Scott went all in with marabou trim and quilted cartoon animals in large format, some of them creeping into 3-D: a long-necked giraffe’s head curving over the shoulder; a cheeky elephant’s ear and trunk forming the sleeve of Hadid’s closing look.

By the time model Taylor Hill appeared with a crib mobile on her head, Scott’s baby vision was exceedingly clear. Rather than reducing women’s desires—for fashion, for children, for sex and the season’s It bag—into a little girl’s phantasmagoria, Scott’s collection thumbs its nose at the unceasing infantilization of women. As women’s rights and bodies remain a political battleground, Scott seems to be saying, “You sure it’s babies you want—and not women?”

 

Perhaps Scott’s admiration for feminine power is best exemplified by trans wheelchair model, Aaron Philip, who starred in a Moschino ad last year, modeled Look 25 in this collection, and accompanied Scott as he took his bows at the end of the show. Without a doubt, this is a designer and a brand that loves and respects all women.

Courtesy: Moschino

Watch for yourself!