Adrian Appiolaza Is Leaving Moschino
The label has announced that designers Loris Messina and Simone Rizzo of Sunnei will step into the role as co-creative directors
Adrian Appiolaza is departing his role as creative director of Moschino, a position he has held since early 2024. He was responsible for women’s, men’s, and accessories. His debut collection was for Fall 2024 in Milan after succeeding previous creative director Jeremy Scott and the late Davide Renne after his untimely death shortly after his appointment.
While Appiolaza’s next move is still not known, Moschino has already announced his replacement: Loris Messina and Simone Rizzo, the designers behind the recently shuttered Milanese label Sunnei, which they founded in 2014. The label had become well-known in the industry for its often satirical commentary on fashion and commerce through its shows, which also offered up contemporary, effortless clothes that had touches of idiosyncrasy in silhouettes or texture.
In a statement, Massimo Ferretti, executive chairman of Aeffe SpA, said, “I would like to thank Adrian Appiolaza for his significant contribution to the development of Moschino over the past two years and wish him every success in his future professional endeavors.” He later went on to say, “In the evolution of a fashion house, the ability to balance identity and innovation is essential. Loris Messina and Simone Rizzo possess the qualities required to embrace this challenge: a contemporary creative vision, a deep cultural sensibility, and the ability to develop relevant and distinctive creative languages.”
Appiolaza was born in Buenos Aires in 1972, and his first fashion memories come from his grandmother, who worked as a tailor. He studied fashion design at Central Saint Martins, and while at school, he was a junior designer at Alexander McQueen, later working under Phoebe Philo at Chloe. Appiolaza’s résumé includes stints at Miu Miu, Louis Vuitton, and Marc Jacobs. Prior to Moschino, he served as design director of women’s ready-to-wear at Loewe, where he collaborated closely with Jonathan Anderson for a decade. Appiolaza is also a prolific collector of archival fashion, often posting quirky shots of his collection to his personal Instagram.
Throughout his tenure at Moschino, he imbued the tongue-in-cheek visual branding of his predecessor, founder Franco Moschino, with elements of designers he studied under, like Jacobs’s grunge and Anderson’s surrealism. For his last collection, shown in February in Milan, the designer paid homage to his home country with a slight political bent, referencing those like Argentina’s former first lady Eva Peron and the social justice-minded comic book character Mafalda through 1940s-style tailored coats, T-shirts printed with the word “basta!”, as well as clutches made to look like piggy banks (these made from papier-mâché money) and cacti.
With his background and talent, Appiolaza will no doubt land somewhere exciting, bringing with him that singular sense of whimsy. Messina and Rizzo, who will show their first collection for Moschino this September in Milan, are strong choices for the role, as they share a similar approach to fashion play and irony that is embedded in Moschino’s DNA, and that Appiolaza helped to modernize during his tenure.
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Información reportada originalmente por Harper's Bazaar. Leer la nota completa en la fuente original.
