In an industry surprise earlier this year, Jeremy Scott announced his departure as creative director of Moschino, one of the most successful and memorable partnerships in recent history. THE DAILY checked in with the brilliant designer to reflect on his tenure and what it will be like for him to sit out this season for the first time in decades.
We imagine your schedule has lightened up since you left Moschino!
There’s been more freedom, which has been nice. There’s been time for a lot of things I wanted to deal with, just dumb things like deep cleaning the house! When you’re on the go so much, things just accumulate. Like, “Why do I have this? Why do I have the Sunday New York Times from 15 weeks ago?” I needed to let go so I could turn a page and start a new chapter. I’m doing some [professional] projects too that aren’t fully out yet.
We’re celebrating you as a visionary. Have you always been an out-of-the-box thinker?
I guess so. I’ve never thought of it as being that. I don’t really think about it, actually. I’m just so passionate. It’s something that burns inside me and I can’t control it. I just need to keep showing it. I’m gifted with this inspiration, this ability, and I need to share it. I’m the custodian of it, so I try to nurture it and be careful with it along the way. It’s kind of like a little baby—each idea is like a baby of creativity, you know, with a nucleus and embryo, that I have to bring up so that it can march on its own!
Jeremy Scott
Where do you find your inspirations?
The magical thing about creativity is you don’t know how it happens. I love cinema, and I have an affinity for old films because of the storytelling. I feel so in tune with that. And then just everything, from the people around me, the people I admire, people from the past, memories, or things that sometimes I want to wear. It all combines to become this kind of goulash to create something new.
Where do you tend to get your information or find the next big thing?
I feel like things come to me. I read the Sunday paper. I read things online. Curiosity is the real answer. What was that little clip of music? Who is that? I’m nosy! I was always curious as a kid, too. I learned every musical genre. I’d also change my whole room, like I would want to live in a log cabin and so everything had to be rustic. Then the next thing I know, I’m living in a futuristic bubble. I get excited, passionate, curious, and obsessive about details and things, and seeing the whole environment, the whole world.
We lost Paul Reubens this summer. What did Pee-wee Herman mean to you?
I loved Pee-wee so much. Pee-wee and Cyndi Lauper were my everything in the ’80s. I was obsessed with both of them, and at that time I could do both of their voices. When I would talk to friends on the phone, I would end up talking as Pee-wee and Cyndi having a conversation. I was just a total weirdo. I loved the humor; I loved the dedication to the character. It’s making something so real—even if you know it’s not—that seems unfathomable to believe that it’s not real. Maybe that’s something I do in my work, too. I love that surreal moment of the gap between reality and fantasy, and that’s what I love about a fashion show. Having people suspend disbelief and be intoxicated with a vision or an idea for five or 10 minutes and lose themselves totally. To me, that’s my ultimate joy.
Do you have a favorite collection for Moschino?
One of my favorites is always the [Spring 2017] paper dolls. I feel like that collection captures what, I think, is maybe most unique about me. It’s avant-garde, but it’s glamorous.
We loved the Dynasty video! That was brilliant.
I never laughed more in my life than that day in studio. I mean, there’s Irina [Shayk], Gigi [Hadid], and Joan [Smalls] smacking one another, all wearing the same dress. At one point Gigi fell, then Irina, it was like the Three Stooges! They all went so ham on it. It was so much fun.
Things are so different now with social media. Where do you see things going in fashion?
People always say fashion shows are dead, but how long have fashion shows been happening? People have always gathered in a room and watched women who exude beauty of some sort. We’ve all sat and watched this live thing happen for decades. There’s something fundamentally human about it that we can’t escape. We still have an attraction to it as it keeps morphing. Whether it’s a theatrical show, like I’ve done, or a salon show. Something about that is not going away.
What will it be like to watch the shows this season while you’re sitting it out?
It’s amazing, because I realized it’s the first time in 27 years I’ve not had a September show. I think, “You know what? Bitch, you deserve a break!” At one point I was doing six shows a year, and in that respect, the pandemic was
a reset I’m grateful for. Part of me was anxious about sitting out September and I thought I should do a show, but I don’t want to be ruled by my ego that I have to be doing something every minute. It’s good to stir up those creative juices and see what comes out differently. I’m trying to have that moment and relish it.
