Hot on the heels of Jeremy Scott’s schismatic Moschino debut, the house is poised to clock some more time in the spotlight. L.A. vintage vanguard Decades recently snapped up more than two hundred iconic pieces from the private collection of Lynda Yost, a longtime devotee of the brand, all of which are up for grabs as of this morning. An exclusive first look at the offering debuts here. Decades co-owner Cameron Silver scored with Yost’s cache, which is exhaustive enough to turn many a museum curator emerald with envy. In fact, he dubs it, “The definitive Moschino collection on the planet.”
Long before Alexander Wang’s parental advisories, there were Franco Moschino’s designs, brimming over with logos and slogans, from the cheeky (“Better a happy hippie than a yukky yuppie”) to the more earnest (“Opposites must coexist!”). Yost, who was raised Amish, was first drawn to the fabled label thanks to a simple principle: Opposites attract. Moschino’s designs, equal parts kitsch and wit, were appealingly alien. Her first Moschino purchase? An appropriately exuberant pair of color-blocked harem pants. She’s also quick to note a curious 21st-century echo of that initial attraction. “I was interested in Jeremy Scott’s appointment because he’s also a farm boy, and there has just got to be something about the humor and the subtle tweaking of society that you’re not allowed to do when you’re a hardworking farm person.”
Yost and Silver are optimistic when it comes to Scott taking the reins, and about his potential when it comes to expanding the brand’s audience. “He is [appealing to] the right demographic, which is very young—younger than the old Moschino [catered to],” Yost says. “Moschino in his day would have made fun of Romeo Gigli and Chanel, and you had to be a fashionista to understand the humor. But with Jeremy making fun of McDonald’s, he’s speaking to a broader brushstroke audience and a younger one.” It’s a far cry from the industry’s lately more staid leanings (“normcore,” if you like). “I think we’ve lived in a long period of time where fashion has morphed away from fun and humorous, and Moschino always injected the frivolity into fashion,” Silver offers. It’s a noble mission, to bring the fun back to fashion, and both Yost and Silver are doing their part to make it as attainable as possible. As she puts it, “We’re very keen on the Moschino dictate, which is everybody should be fashionable. It isn’t just for the wealthy.” Items on offer range in price from a $25 pair of socks to a loftier $10,000 jacket. While Decades’ initial release is hardly scant, the duo hint that there may be more to come down the line. As Silver tells it, “Lynda has enough to dress an army!”
