Jeremy Scott did a wonderful job at Moschino with high octane shows and often goofy concepts like Barbie. But it always lacked a bit of fashion gravitas, the certain brainy aspect that elevates mere clothes to the orbit of high fashion. This has changed with one show by the new creative director Adrian Appiolaza who bears one of fashion’s most interesting CVs with stints at Alexander McQueen and Miguel Adrover at the beginning of his career and most recently as ready-to-wear director at Loewe. He channeled the archives of Franco Moschino to anchor his first collection, but he reached new interesting levels when he let his own fashion obsessions and fantasy come to the fore. Appiolaza is recognized as a formidable collector of high fashion with a massive personal collection – lots of original Margiela is his obsession – hence he has a deep understanding of archetypes of clothing as in his first look of a giant trench coat with pearls and a grocery bag. To connect with classic wardrobe staples and deliver a show which was not about runway fireworks but pieces that can go from catwalk to the street was the novelty aspect of this debut and what made it so good. Let’s not forget that Appiolaza was only appointed a mere six weeks before this show after the original Scott successor David Renne died of a heart disease. To pay homage to Renne, Appiolaza only used fabrics that were already in the studio which in a way paid respect to Moschino himself who was known for his wit and resourcefulness.