Throughout the pandemic, surrealist aesthetics emerged as the new norm. But now, there’s a growing appetite for familiarity.

In recent years, fashion has been doing the absolute most. Clashing patterns, exaggerated silhouettes and fantastical runway stunts became a welcome sartorial escape from the bleachness of day-to-day pandemic life — and no designer is more synonymous with this grandiosity than Jeremy Scott. Since 2013, Moschino’s creative director delivered a signature campy, kitschy, cartoonish approach to fashion. More than anything, he found the humor in clothes at times when the world was otherwise lacking in levity. So when he announced his sudden departure from the brand on March 20, the imminence of a new era became clear.

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It’s been just a few months since Alessandro Michele’s departure from Gucci shocked the fashion world. At the time, it seemed abrupt for the creative director — whose flamboyant flair and viral antics like “Twinsburg” redefined Gucci’s aesthetic — to exit when his designs so aptly reflected the maximalist attitudes of the culture. But now, with the loss of yet another seminal creative