Presented in the automated warehouse of Fonderia Macchi in Milan, the Moschino Spring/Summer 2023 menswear collection displayed a striking balance of grit and camp while maintaining commercial appeal with clever subversion. Being as this collection was the first all-menswear show since the infamous creative director Jeremy Scott officially joined the house, he chose to pay homage to the iconic oeuvre–and iconoclastic approach–of the late artist Tony Viramontes.

“I wanted to shine a light on this brilliant creator,” says Scott. “He may not be a household name, but Tony Viramontes is a force.”

Viramontes was known to many as a “lively chameleon,” hued in pop-bright colors. He was a fashion illustrator, a photographer, and a visionary whose discipline tethered the worlds of high fashion and megawatt celebrity. He had an intangible talent for creating a space where free form comes in conjunction with realism through his works. Ultimately, Viramontes captured his era’s bold aesthetics through pen and lens.

Scott collaborated with Viramontes’ estate for part of this collection through the motifs, the faces, and the figures that are seen through the replications of the polymath’s pieces. Creating not only an interplay of the elements but an interplay of minds as well. In particular, Viramontes’ contribution to The Face magazine and the Buffalo styling movement of the eighties spearheaded by Ray Petri–which would become a visual hallmark of that decade– initiated inspiration for Scott.

Abstract visages, bright yet slightly attenuated colors, striking squiggles, and expressive strokes cover signature Moschino shapes and new silhouettes that play with length and height, everything from long to short shorts, pleated skirts to sarongs, tapered pants to roomier trousers.

Tailoring takes the center stage, with an array of blazers, suits, and topcoats enlivened by polychrome treatments. Sportcoats are styled with shorts or combat boots, creating a modern and mixed vernacular look.

Watch the full show below: