Make love, not war – that could’ve been the message of Jeremy Scott’s latest Moschino collection, although it may have been festooned with military riffing and referencing. After all, most militia berets don’t come bespangled with gewgaws courtesy of London stylist and artisan Judy Blame. Apparently, he was commissioned to make fifteen of the berets, but Scott loved them so much he kept them coming. He even sported one himself for his final bow. The pieces were about fighting the good fight – namely, an antidote to the strife and alt-right extremism of the current day. So, though the opening sequence was patterned with cartoonish doomsday explosions, but the end frocks and slacks (because, as with everyone else, Scott was showing his and hers wares on the catwalk) were patterned with ebullient cherubs, like a scene from a Tiepolo fresco. Were they angels come down to make things wright, of souls escaping from the purgatory of the day-to-day today? Hard to say? Elsewhere, however, the army references felt like, perhaps, Scott was encouraging his Moschino troops to stand up for their rights against the right – in fatigues splattered with roses. It was about escapism – rather about activism. Be counted, and make a difference. You may as well start with the clothes on your back.
Photographs by Jason Lloyd-Evans
