Dress
This "Maid in Italy" dress by Rosella Jardini, playfully evokes the uniform of a housemaid with the characteristic wit that the house of Mochino has come to be associated with. It was featured as the opening look for the autumn/winter 2001-2 Cheap and Chic show, which featured a cast of models that role-played a day in the life of a fashionable woman. From maids carrying breakfast trays, dusters, and other cleaning accoutrements, women in silk lounging pajamas with curlers in their hair, to the chic day suits that a professional might wear to the office, the narrative humorously unfolded with the presentation of each new ensemble. Jardini worked closely alongside the founder throughout his lifetime, and from his death in 1994 to her departure in 2013, Jardini assumed responsibility as the creative director of the Italian fashion brand, seamlessly perpetuating Franco Moschino’s legacy. This ensemble employs several Moschino leitmotifs: the use of parody and archetype; incorporation of trompe l’oeil design details with the sewn-in-one apron; and perhaps most significantly the employment of double entendre.
Artwork Details
- Title: Dress
- Design House: House of Moschino (Italian, founded 1983)
- Designer: Rossella Jardini (Italian, born 1952)
- Secondary Line: Moschino Cheap and Chic (Italian, founded 1988)
- Date: fall/winter 2001–2
- Culture: Italian
- Medium: synthetic fiber, cotton
- Credit Line: Purchase, Funds from various donors, by exchange, 2019
- Object Number: 2019.50
- Curatorial Department: The Costume Institute
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