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Moschino: Cheap & Chic True to Its Name
By: Godfrey Deeny
Photos by Gruber-FWD
Milan, Sep 29, 2001/ FWD/ --- If ever a collection lived up to its name it was Cheap and Chic,
the lower-priced range of Moschino. The ever wacky house staged its collection on Friday before a huge backdrop
composed like an Elle cover, with Chic in the same typeface as the magazine, a series of cover lines including
the exhortation to "enjoy the show."
Cheap and Chic has built a solid following producing affordable fun clothes that make fun of, rather than
slavishly imitating, current trends. For spring 2002, Cheap and Chic girls will wear peasant blouses – yes, the
stores are full of them from YSL and Balenciaga – except Moschino makes them in ultrasuede and sometimes in pink.
Ever wanted a Chanel jacket, especially Yohji Yamamoto’s frilly edged homage to Coco’s classic from 1997? Well
Cheap and Chic have made one, this time in distressed denim.
Much of the collection will look great on teenagers and twentysomethings, like pink leggings with pleated skirts
in sweatshirt fabrics, or flamenco skirts with dolls’ clothes sewn on them. Cheap and Chic remains a coherent
commercial proposition.
However, as an attempt to make some sort of statement this catwalk show was a mess. After sending out several
military jackets and pants in khaki, the designers had the temerity to end the show with a model wearing a
white T-shirt dress with "Peace" written across the chest and the anti-nuke logo on the back. The look drew a
smattering of applause from the largely Italian audience, but more than one sniff of disdain from British critics.
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