Marina Moscone Pre-Fall 2022 Collection
Instead of thinking about investment dressing, Marina Moscone wants you to consider treasure dressing. That is, buying clothes that are well-made and practical, but also have a sense of wonder and whimsy about them—a special detail that elevates, say, your most-worn blazer to a blazer you couldn’t bear to part with. Fittingly, Moscone’s muse for pre-fall is a sea nymph who’s been hunting for treasure. But before you jump to Ariel and her thingamabobs, the clothes in this collection are more sophisticated and cerebral than the Disney princess.
Moscone is generally known as a purist who favors silhouettes that hang away from the body, creating a tension between the masculine and feminine. Not this season. Though she’s been challenging this perception in many of her recent collections—see resort 2022’s mushroom-bedecked overcoat with chartreuse fur trim—Moscone is introducing more “siren-y and sexy” silhouettes for pre-fall. Blazers with nipped waists, cut-out slinky black dresses, and ruched and smocked dresses and shirts delicately hug the body. “It’s new for us, but it feels very right,” Moscone says. “It’s also because of the time we’re in. We’re ready to emerge and look forward and feel good.”
As Moscone points out, her details are anything but minimal. Her textiles are always worth discussing, and this season she wanted to continue the shipwrecked, well-worn theme by creating soft taffetas and silk wools with an ethereal effect. The black boyfriend blazer—a standard piece for the brand—is embellished with found metal objects Moscone has collected over the years. Spiral sleeves feature in three looks and are evocative of the American sculptor Richard Smithson’s “Spiral Jetty.” This imagery of wrapping is further represented in the paneled skirts, tunics, and tops that can be unbuttoned to create a carwash effect, a slip dress with slashed, asymmetrical skirt, and a draped cape dress in white and seafoam green. Whether the inspiration comes directly from seashells, whirlpools, or waves doesn’t matter: the movement is beautiful.
It’s impressive that Moscone has created a collection that is clearly influenced by the sea, but doesn’t feel remotely beachy. Instead, the clothes feel ready to be worn by a gallerist showing off the Ed Weston photos that Moscone referenced in her collection notes. The move towards siren silhouettes is a break in form that feels like an evolution.