Moschino

Moschino is an Italian luxury fashion house founded in 1983 by Franco Moschino in Milan known for over-the-top, campy designs. The company specializes in ready-to-wear, handbags, and fashion accessories. History Founding and 1990s Franco Moschino was born on 27 February 1950 and raised in Abbiategrasso, Italy. Moschino studied at Accademia di Belle in Milan from 1968 to 1971, at the dismay of his father, who hoped Franco would continue his family's work in the iron industry. While a student, Franco freelanced designs and illustrations for magazines and fashion houses. Upon graduation, Franco worked as a design sketcher for Versace from 1971 to 1977 and designed for Italian fashion house Cadette until 1982. The following year, Franco created "Moschino Couture!", owned by Moonshadow, its Milan-based holding company. Franco gained a reputation for implementing innovative, colorful, and witty designs into his apparel, such incorporating a Roy Lichtenstein pop art piece in a suit and designing a t-shirt featuring a TV tuned to “Channel No. 5" (sparking a lawsuit by Chanel due to the reference to its Chanel No. 5 perfume). By the late 1980s, Moschino's popularity in Europe had begun to replicate in the United States, with US sales accounting for 15 to 20 percent of business. By the 1990s, Franco became known for his social awareness campaigns and his criticism of the fashion industry. In 1994, Franco expressed desire to develop an ecological line “Nature Friendly Garment”, however Franco died later that year from HIV/AIDS-related causes. In recent times, Moschino has made an effort to combat the HIV/AIDS epidemic through a partnership with Product Red and Nickelodeon, creating a Moschino x SpongeBob collection, bringing awareness to HIV/AIDS and fundraising by donating the collection's proceeds to Project Red.