Department store Nordstrom drops Moschino's pill-themed clothes

PHOTO: INSTAGRAM/MOSCHINO

WASHINGTON • When Italian fashion brand Moschino unveiled its pill-themed "just say MoschiNO" spring 2017 collection, it was just another episode, to fashionistas, in designer Jeremy Scott's commitment to self-aware, if pricey, garishness.

The collection's US$75 (S$103) iPhone cover featured a blister pack of drug tablets, a thousand-dollar T-shirt dress was emblazoned with a giant pill bottle and a US$950 shoulder bag took the form of a pharmaceutical container.

To Vogue, this was a tongue-in- cheek "capsule collection" from a man who once had a wardrobe dedicated to McDonald's. A capsule collection is a pared-down wardrobe with just a few key items representing its theme.

But to Minneapolis-based drug and alcohol counsellor Randy Anderson, the clothes and bags were anything but aware of this year's reality. As he wrote in a recent Change.org petition, the collection glamorised pill-popping. "In 2014," he wrote, "47,055 people died of an accidental drug overdose", citing data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

At least one retailer took note of the protest. Department store Nordstrom ceased selling the items.
Moschino defended the designs, saying in a statement: "The Moschino capsule collection was inspired by a play on the word 'capsule'. There was never any intent to promote prescription drug abuse."

WASHINGTON POST

Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.

A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on October 13, 2016, with the headline Department store Nordstrom drops Moschino's pill-themed clothes . Subscribe