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Adrian Appiolaza is the new creative director of Moschino. Just over months after the sudden and tragic death of Davide Renne, who had taken the creative lead of the brand just a month earlier, the Aeffe group brand announces the name of his successor. The first Moschino collection designed by Appiolaza will be the womenswear for FW 2024-5, scheduled for the next Milan Fashion Week, on February 22nd at 6pm at the Museo della Permanente. A place chosen not by chance, since it was there, within the Society for Fine Arts and Permanent Exhibition, that the historic exhibition “Moschino – X years of Kaos! 1983-1993”, a celebratory journey of the first decade of the brand founded by Franco Moschino.
Appiolaza, born in Buenos Aires in 1972, graduated from Central Saint Martins in London, working during his studies as a junior designer at Alexander McQueen and Miguel Adrover. Phoebe Philo saw the collection with which he graduated and wanted it with her at Chloé in 2002. Then it was the turn of Miu Miu in 2006, Louis Vuitton with
Marc Jacobs as senior designer since 2010, and again at Chloé, where he returned in 2012 as design director with Clare Waight Keller. From 2014 until his role at Moschino he was in the style office of the Loewe women’s collection, alongside JW Anderson.
Appiolaza will supervise the women’s, men’s and accessories collections of the maison, reporting to Massimo Ferretti, executive president of Aeffe Spa. «We are happy and honored to welcome Adrian into the Aeffe family – declared Ferretti himself -. With his arrival at Moschino, Adrian brings with him a unique wealth of creativity and knowledge of the history of fashion that will allow us to write a wonderful new chapter in the adventure of the brand founded by Franco Moschino. I was immediately struck by Adrian’s explosive creativity, a personality full of energy and enthusiasm, elements that have always characterized the history and path of Moschino. My greatest wishes to Adrian in building a great success story with us.”
«The jackets with 3D postcards; the dress with the skirt made with 20 bras; the countless trompe-l’oeil: as a creative, and as a collector, the list of Franco Moschino’s creations that have gone down in the history of costume is almost infinite – commented Adrian Appiolaza -. The essence of his talent, for me, was to inhabit his time, sublimating his qualities and making fun of his defects. An operation that he carried out with enviable lightness, opening a window for all of us from which to imagine, in our own way, the future. I am deeply grateful to Massimo Ferretti for allowing me access to the world of Moschino, as well as entry into a house where the walls exude a story that I can’t wait to hear. I am ready to transport the maison into a new chapter, with a theatrical touch, in pure Moschino style.”
The Aeffe Group – which, in addition to Moschino, includes the Alberta Ferretti, Philosophy di Lorenzo Serafini and Pollini brands – closed 2023 with consolidated revenues of 319 million euros, down 9% at constant exchange rates (and 9.5% at current exchange rates) compared to 2022. The decline, the group announced, «is mainly due to a slowdown in the European and American markets. However, we are satisfied with the performance of the retail channel, linked to the distribution reorganization in China, where during 2022 we took direct control of the Moschino stores.”