Vogue Runway: Exclusive: Moschino and H&M Are Collaborating—And Out in Palm Springs, Jeremy Scott Might Be Having His Best Coachella Yet
This past Thursday, Moschino’s Jeremy Scott posted an Instagram image of himself and Lindsay Lohan from the mid-2000s, stating that it was an “annual #tbt Coachella picture.”
To those who remember—daresay cherish, definitely miss—that era, it was a combined “aww” slash “sigh” moment. In the photo, Lohan is the peak-of-her-fame starlet, a striking beauty with a golden Californian élan; Scott is the popular party boy, nightlife long being a mainstay of his singular, surreal-Pop aesthetic. It garnered a higher than average amount of likes for the designer—and, in some ways, as Scott notes, the snap represents “the good old days.” But, over a late sun-soaked lunch at the perennially scene-y Parker Palm Springs on Friday, he also mentions that a new wave of good days is back: Vogue can exclusively reveal that Moschino, the Italian label headed by Scott, is the Swedish mega-brand H&M’s newest collaboration partner. The line, called Moschino [tv] H&M, will drop on November 8; the news was announced late Saturday night, with a little help from Gigi Hadid, at Scott’s 11th annual party held around the Coachella music festival. Might we have expected a Lohan cameo, then, to bring it all full circle? “If she was here, I would’ve heard from her,” he says with a laugh.
That’s true. Scott is a designer of celebrity status; he has millions of fans, many of whom are also friends. Before lunch, Pixie Geldof and the designer Ashley Williams stopped by his house (a John Lautner original that, after this weekend, is undergoing a six-month fix-up); during lunch, one of Scott’s “way back” pals, the DJ Pedro Winter, says hello; after lunch, after parting ways, this writer is taking notes and waiting for his Uber in the lobby as a group of early-twentysomethings enter. One says: “Wait, you guys, that was Jeremy Scott.”
Therein lies the smartness—and foreseeable power—of this collaboration; even though he designs and sells clothes in the luxury sector, Scott is at his core a creator that’s not so interested in exclusivity. Of getting back to a wider reach: “I no longer do my collaboration line with Adidas, and sadly, until now, I haven’t really had another way to service the fandom,” he says. “This collaboration makes me feel like I’m able to give something again. Lots of young people love my clothes . . . and we make phone cases and little things like that, but in order to have a lewk, I love that this is now something that will be affordable.”
It’s a point often made by high-end designers with these types of linkups, but Scott’s sentiment is extra palpable; he’s literally beaming in the desert. And with the prices in Moschino [tv] H&M ranging from approximately $25 to $300, the effect is, ostensibly, the opening of the door to the party; no guest list, no velvet rope, just merrymaking with Moschino panache. The collection includes womenswear and menswear, as well as a few other as-yet-to-be-divulged components. “There’s a silver sequined parka dress,” says Scott. “Denim pieces are all twisted into something else. Puffers and jackets are reconfigured into cropped things or double-long things. There’s a sportswear-with-evening kind of feeling, like a hockey jersey with a train.” He also flags a CD print, which is “archival from Franco [Moschino]. Sometimes I reconfigure something from the history, but sometimes it’s perfect as is.”
Also, admirers of Scott’s iconic and Insta-famous biker-jacket bag, which broke the fashion Internet when it was released a few years ago, are in for a pleasant surprise: “We’re doing the tiniest biker bag ever. I love it. It could be a necklace. It could just hold a lighter, or nothing. I tried it for Moschino, but we didn’t produce it, and I was like, ‘She’s the one that gets to come back.’ ” He then adds: “I do have to be thoughtful, though, of the differences. It’s a little puzzle. How do I give you the elements and the look and the feeling of Moschino, but how do I not wreck the mother ship while doing it?”
On Saturday morning, in the retro-plush lobby of the Riviera Palm Springs, H&Mcreative advisor Ann-Sofie Johansson is going over the details. “For womenswear, it’s around 45 pieces, plus accessories—in this case there are quite a lot of accessories, because he’s so good at them. Menswear is around 20 pieces, plus accessories as well.”
She then pauses. “You know, this collaboration in particular—it really is this twinkle in the eye, so to speak. The fun of fashion. There’s so much energy—it puts a smile on your face.” Scott got to that point at The Parker. “I think the biggest success I can have as a designer is for people to wear my clothes, have fun in them, take pictures and make memories in them, and to not be too precious.” If he didn’t have too much fun at Saturday night’s bash, he was planning to go see his friend Cardi B perform on Sunday—all no doubt adding up to another highlight reel in his storied Coachella history. Does he have a favorite? “Other than Lindsay being in my arms, there’s something . . . well, I’ve had so many Coachellas. This one, though, is especially exciting.”
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