Moschino Names Sunnei’s Loris Messina and Simone Rizzo Creative Directors

After days of speculation, Moschino has confirmed that Sunnei founders Loris Messina and Simone Rizzo are the brand’s new creative directors, effective immediately. The news arrived two days after Adrian Appiolaza exited the top role, and the pair will make their debut for the house at Milan Fashion Week this September.

“In the evolution of a fashion house, the ability to balance identity and innovation is essential,” said Massimo Ferretti, executive chairman of Moschino’s parent company, Aeffe. “Loris Messina and Simone Rizzo possess the qualities required to embrace this challenge: a contemporary creative vision, a deep cultural sensibility, and the ability to develop relevant and distinctive creative languages. We are confident that their contribution will further strengthen Moschino and support its growth in the years ahead.”

Messina and Rizzo were a somewhat unlikely fashion duo when they launched Sunnei in 2014 as a direct-to-consumer menswear label, later expanding into womenswear in 2018. Rizzo hails from Calabria, Italy, while Messina is from Grenoble, France. They met in Milan and, after a trip to New York, decided to quit their day jobs and start a brand of their own. Neither came up through the traditional design-school pipeline, but together they built Sunnei into one of Milan’s most irreverent, internet-fluent labels, known for its color, wit, and offbeat approach to Italian style.

Sunnei repeatedly gained attention not only for its experimental wardrobe, but also for its unconventional fashion week presentations. At the brand’s spring 2023 show, twin models made for mind-bending “quick changes.” The fall 2023 presentation saw models crowd-surfing. For spring 2024, Messina and Rizzo handed guests paddles and asked them to rank each look from zero to 10, turning the ritual of fashion criticism into part of the show itself. In September 2025, the duo staged what would become their final Sunnei presentation as a mock auction house before announcing their departure from the brand hours later.

“We have always admired Franco Moschino’s ability to challenge conventions through creativity while maintaining a clear and consistent voice,” the pair said in a joint statement on Sunday, June 21. “It is a rare quality. Moschino has always embodied this attitude as a cultural house driven by a strong, recognizable, and radical point of view, using pop culture as a critical tool rather than merely an aesthetic language. Taking on the Creative Direction of the House means embracing this legacy and projecting it into the present, reinforcing its relevance and its ability to shape the contemporary cultural imagination.” It’s easy to imagine Messina and Rizzo bringing a similar mischievous spirit and sense of humor to Moschino, a label long defined by satire, surrealism, and a joyful disregard for good taste—in the most fashionable sense.

The appointment also comes amid a broader corporate reshuffling at Aeffe, which named Riccardo Bagolin as its new general manager earlier this month. But the executive drama is much less interesting than the creative implications. Appiolaza joined Moschino in early 2024, presenting his first collection that February during Milan Fashion Week. He stepped into the role after Davide Renne, who had been appointed to succeed Jeremy Scott, died suddenly in November 2023, just days after starting at the house.

Before Renne, Scott served as Moschino’s creative director for a decade, during which he skewered consumerism and capitalism with collections that walked the line between fashion and costume. He also made the brand a go-to for celebrity dressing, especially at the Met Gala; in 2019, he dressed nearly a dozen high-profile names for the “Camp: Notes on Fashion” theme.

During his two and a half years at Moschino, Appiolaza did not attempt to out-camp the “King of Camp.” Instead, he looked more directly to Moschino’s founder, Franco Moschino, producing eccentric but wearable collections rooted in the house’s original codes. Still, his tenure never generated the kind of public heat or viral momentum that the brand once commanded. It seems safe to assume that Bagolin and the rest of Aeffe are hoping Messina and Rizzo can bring some of Sunnei’s experimental energy—and virality—to Moschino’s next chapter.