His Company: Past and Present
Since its inception, Moschino has continued to put out high fashion, yet saleable, designs
year after year. From 1983 to present, the company has known how to maintain a strong
brand image through visual merchandising. They also know what their customers expect,
and how to move into the lucrative bridge and contemporary markets without changing
their overall high-end designer brand perception.
Cheap and Chic (Moschino.com). Since the additions of the latter two lines in 1986 and
1988 respectively, the company’s target market has expanded, and the Moschino name is
now a part of the Designer Ready-to-Wear, Bridge, and Contemporary retail categories.
The Cheap and Chic line is “priced 30 percent below Signature … Love [Moschino] is
priced 30 percent below Cheap and Chic” (Edelson). The target market for the Moschino
lines is fashionable men and women with a high discretionary income. In other words,
those who shop at Moschino have enough money to spend at least $1,000 on a dress.
The first Moschino boutique was opened in Italy in 1989 -- three years after the
company’s launch. The first Cheap and Chic boutique opened in Italy in 1990.
Moschino uses its boutiques as outlets for expressing its unique brand image. All
Moschino designs -- apparel, accessories, furniture, and window displays -- have a very
distinct playful and surreal feeling to them. As of 2007, Moschino boasts 67 boutiques as
well as over 800 points of sale worldwide (Zargani, “Moschino Forges”).
It wasn’t until early 2009 that the online boutique and website were launched
(Moschino.com). The opening of the virtual store was an important decision for
Moschino especially during the current economic recession. In the past few years, online
sales, although somewhat affected by the economy, have exponentially grown. (Mintel)
The online store also acts as another outlet for Moschino to communicate the company’s
desired brand image to their customers and other shoppers who may not live near a
Moschino store.
The majority of the company is currently owned by Italian based Aeffe S.p.a., and
another large portion is controlled by an Italian holding company, Sportswear
International (Zargani, “Moschino Rebrands”). After Franco Moschino’s death in 1994,
his colleague and friend Rossella Jardini assumed the role of Creative Director
(Moschino.com). The brand has since undergone some revamping and expanding, but
has always been true to Franco’s original whimsical aesthetic.