The Love Affair Between Stuffed Animals And Fashion: A Brief History
Jeremy Scott wanted to make something very clear with his first fragrance for Moschino: even though the bottle may look like a teddy bear, this stuffed animal is not a toy.
The "Moschino Toy" bear—confusingly, that's what the fragrance is called—joins a long line of stuffed animal fashion forefathers. There are a even a few in his direct Moschino lineage. His furry ancestors actually first popped up in a 1988 Moschino collection—on the collar of a coat—but Jeremy is the most recent addition to the Moschino bear family, and, more generally, to stuffed animals in fashion.
Here are a few more key moments in stuffed animal fashion history:
2003
A bunch of stuffed animals, including elephants and cows, line Lil Kim's skirt on a 2003 Nylon cover. That would make a pretty comfy seat, eh? I may try it tomorrow.
2009
Six years later, Jean-Charles de Castelbajac sent a model down his runway covered in Kermit The Frogs. This look—though pretty iconic on its own—was made famous by Lady Gaga, who wore a Kermit cape on a German television show.
2011
Two years later, Nicki Minaj wore a colorful, mostly stuffed bunny dress in the music video for "Fireball" with Willow Smith.
2012
The following year, Jeremy Scott released a line for his collaboration with Adidas that included bear heads on sneaker tongues, pants covered in critters, and jackets with stuffed shoulders. Those pants may weigh a lot, but they're not keeping this guy down.
2012
At the 2012 Kids' Choice Awards, Nicki reignited her love affair with stuffed animal clothing–this time on her shoes.
2013
And, finally, things come full circle and back to Moschino. In the Spring 2014 collection—Rossella Jardini's last for Moschino—a teddy bear hat and coat made their way down the runway. It was an homage to Franco Moschino and, up until this week, the last bear in the Moschino family.
Will the Moschino Fall 2015 collection be more bear-centric? We'll have to wait until February to find out!