You either know Adrian Appiolaza as the guy keeping Instagram fed with an endless stream of archival fashion finds, or as a designer. His relationship with fashion started where most of the industry does. At his grandma’s kitchen table. And grandma must’ve been a good tailor, given Appiolaza’s résumé. He started as a junior designer at Alexander McQueen, balancing his studies at Central Saint Martins, before moving on to Chloé under Clare Waight Keller, Louis Vuitton under Marc Jacobs, Miu Miu under Miuccia Prada, and Loewe, where he spent 10 years as ready-to-wear design director. Before, of course, heading to Aeffe-owned Moschino.
Appiolaza joined the brand in January 2024, after David Renne’s shockingly short 10-day tenure following the decade-long reign of Jeremy Scott, ended abruptly by his sudden death. After two and a half years as the brand’s creative director, they have officially parted ways. “I was given a remarkable opportunity to express my creativity for an important Italian brand with an extraordinary creative heritage such as Moschino. I am grateful to Aeffe, and in particular to Massimo Ferretti, for this opportunity. I would also like to thank the entire creative team with whom I shared this intense experience,” the designer commented on a statement.
Appiolaza knew how to respect Moschino’s humour and built-in chaos, but he re-routed it through archive thinking, muting it into something controllable, tailored, and clearly less performative. Yet it also wasn’t as commercially performative as Aeffe would have hoped. With brands like Alberta Ferretti and Pollini in its portfolio, the group still leans heavily on Moschino to drive the numbers.
But Aeffe isn’t exactly in calm waters. The group is currently in talks over a potential takeover bid led by Oxy Capital, together with a handful of industrial and financial investors. Already under pressure in 2024, the brand also offloaded its cosmetics and fragrance rights to Euroitalia in an effort to reduce debt. Things had been looking tight long before Appiolaza’s arrival. Aeffe has seen a sharp decline in value, with its shares losing around three-quarters over the past year and its market cap falling to about €13.2 million. At the same time, it posted a €28.5 million net loss on €103 million revenue, down 27% year-on-year. And in the absence of stability, rumors thrive. Among them, speculation points to Loris Messina and Simone Rizzo of Sunnei as a potential fit.
