Between his eponymous collection and his lauded work for Moschino, the creative wunderkind Jeremy Scott has become one of the busiest men in fashion. After wrapping the cover shoot of The Daily Summer, the newly minted star of the Netflix documentary Jeremy Scott: The People’s Designer explains how it all comes together.
PHOTOGRAPHY BY GIAMPAOLO SGURA
What’s the difference between your namesake collection and Moschino this season?
For Jeremy Scott, I was thinking about a girl at a Lower East Side club, maybe in the late 1980s, who is infatuated with the late ’50s and early ’60s. When I think about my collection, generally there’s some kind of music relation—an imaginary girl group, imaginary punk rock band, imaginary rock star, imaginary rock show. And when I think of Moschino, I think about an Italian woman with a kind of over-the-top glamour. There’s a lot more jewelry and accessories—too much is always really good for Moschino. It’s for a lady who laughs a little too loud, drinks a little too much, and dances a little too hard, but she’s charming. It’s part of her natural character.
Which themes were you playing with at Moschino?
I wanted to do a car wash [inspired] show really badly and that has been in my mind for a while. I couldn’t do a whole show like that, so I said, “What if I just disguised it? What if I took a car wash and put it in front of everyone’s nose, but disguised it with all these traffic signs?” It was little bit more of a couture-looking collection—less urban street hip-hop. Toward the finale, the bubbles started coming in, and Anna Cleveland started twirling on the runway, and it all became evident that there was a car wash there.
Stella Maxwell has become a muse for you.
When she’s working, she’s an amazing poser. She can bring sensuality in a second—the steaminess just comes from her naturally. That can transfer to a very cinematic look, too. Very few girls have that range. On a human level, she’s sweet, loyal…. She’s cool.
You’ve been working with photographer Giampaolo Sgura a lot lately.
Obviously, his images are beautiful. It’s easy fun; it’s not strained. I’m always happy for him to shoot my portrait. I’m always super pleased.
How did you both arrive at the idea of a pop-up diner for this shoot?
He was at both of my shows, so he came up with the idea of the diner set, and I loved it. We sat down figuring how to make it work, and it turned out better than I imagined.
Is it like playing with your toys?
I love to create images and new designs, so for me, it’s fun. I like to collaborate. That’s the fun thing with Stella and our hair and makeup people and Giampaolo.
What do you order at a diner?
I’m a vegetarian, so a veggie burger and French fries, as long as there is ketchup involved. And a vanilla milk shake!
We hear that you have an idea for a diner.
I’d love to have a vegetarian diner with a jukebox, checkerboards, cute little waitress outfits, but all healthy foods, all good things. Some can be disguised—it could be like mac and cheese but it’s not really made with noodles or cheese, it’s made with cashews! And brownie sundaes made of lentils. I’d totally be down for that.
Do you have any memories of Memorial Day weekend?
I grew up on a farm, so we were likely on the lake, waterskiing.
What were you up to last summer?
I was in L.A. for most of August. I had so many things going on, like the movie premiere of my documentary and the VMAs. It was the first August I wasn’t working on my collection, because of doing my production now in Italy and they were on holiday. I thought I’d take a holiday, but in the end, I had all these other obligations.
When was the last time you were in the Hamptons?
I went for Madonna’s birthday last August. I had never been before. I drove straight to her house and we left right after. It was wonderful.
Do you ever relax?
I’ve always been busy, but I’ve never been as busy as I am now. There are times I wish I could just sit and read a book, but I feel like I have a wonderful gift that’s been given to me. I love doing what I do. These opportunities are such great gifts, and I’d hate to not live life to the fullest. It’s a great privilege. And maybe there will be a time where I don’t want to do all of this. I always made a pact to myself if anything got too boring, too much, or not fun, then I won’t do it. Life is too short.
