Conceived in the year 1983 by Franco Moschino this provocative couture Italian fashion house was launched in 1985 and quickly attained a cult following because of its youthful, and colourful designs that criticised the established fashion industry. The company is known to apply humour to everyday objects and clothes through inspiration from artists such as Salvador Dali who was instrumental in catapulting the surrealist movement of the 1920s. Examples of this are the use of dice as buttons ,and faucet handles on jackets. Innovative social awareness campaigns of the early 1990s brought Moschino into the limelight, and it has stayed there ever since. Moschino has designed one off pieces for such superstars as Kylie Minoque and Madonna. His company also designed the outfits used for the opening ceremony of the 2006 Winter Olympics in Torino, Italy. As mentioned previously Moschino’s rebellious anti-establishment focused fashion designs were infamous for generating rifts against the more established fashion houses such as Louis Vuitton and Chanel.

In the photograph below, U.S. First Lady Michelle Obama is seen wearing a pink dress by Moschino, taken from the pre-selection of the 2010 Spring/Summer Moschino collection. 

The brand is made up of three main labels Moschino (women’s and men’s flagship line) Moschino Cheap and Chic (women’s line) and Moschino Jeans (men’s and women’s line). But to keep in line with its eccentric past,  Moschino also designs motorcycle helmets, perfumes, and owns a concept hotel called “Maison Moschino”.

To find out more about this fashion powerhouse, visit their website.

http://www.moschino.it

For some great fashion and style tips visit the Metropolitan.