Sold to Moschino: The Sunnei Duo

A Swift Swap Done in Two Days, a Switch Already in Place

On Friday, June 19, 2026, Adrian Appiolaza left Moschino. Just two days later, on Sunday, June 21, Loris Messina and Simone Rizzo were abruptly announced as the house's new creative directors (CDs).

Fashion insiders weren't all that surprised by this CD change, one of the fastest in recent fashion history. The two had already been spotted at Moschino's headquarters before the official announcement. On the surface, it looked like a sudden dismissal and appointment, but behind the scenes, it was a thoroughly calculated and prepared move.

Four CDs in Three Years, and a Moschino Being Redesigned

To understand the weight of this appointment, you have to look back at the brutal three years Moschino has just been through.

After Jeremy Scott led the brand to its peak over ten years (2013–2023) with spectacular pop culture parodies like SpongeBob, McDonald's, and Barbie, the house fell into deep turmoil.

His successor, Davide Renne, tragically passed away just nine days after his appointment. Adrian Appiolaza, brought in urgently afterward, put up a good fight for about two and a half years, making the spaghetti clutch, the pizza slice bag, and the "Tie Me" handbag go viral, but in the end, he had to pack his bags.

That makes four CDs passing through in just three years. In the same month, parent company Aeffe Group also brought in a new general manager, Riccardo Bagolin. With both the creative lead and the management being replaced at the same time, Moschino has entered not a simple seasonal refresh but an overhaul that rebuilds the entire framework of the brand.

"The UFO of the Milan Fashion Scene"

Founded in Milan in 2014 by the duo Loris Messina and Simone Rizzo, Sunnei has been called "Milan's UFO" by fashion insiders for its bold colors and playful silhouettes.

Even after selling a stake to the fund Vanguards in 2020, their cheerful rebellion never stopped. Most notably, at their SS26 show in September 2025, they partnered with Christie's to stage a radical performance that "put the designers themselves up for auction," and then announced the brand's liquidation.

By leaving the brand in a way that put themselves up for auction and sold themselves off, they proved in their final exit that "humor is our most powerful weapon."

When Irony Meets Irony

This pairing, chosen by Aeffe Group chairman Massimo Ferretti, is no coincidence.

The original language Franco Moschino built when he founded the house in 1983 was "critiquing social conventions and the fashion system through humor." If Jeremy Scott translated that into American pop culture and Appiolaza carried it on through witty leather accessories, the Sunnei duo are the designers who have most instinctively understood and practiced the founder's "satirical aesthetic."

"Can a CD Change Save a Brand?"

But creative wit has never guaranteed commercial success. In fact, Appiolaza's spaghetti bag went hugely viral on social media, yet it couldn't save the collapsing wholesale sales. Sunnei, too, earned editorial praise for its distinctive aesthetic, but couldn't overcome the limits of its distribution structure and went straight to liquidation after selling its stake.

In a harsh market environment where Zegna has deliberately cut back on wholesale by pushing its DTC share up to 86%, and the number of global luxury store openings has hit a low in recent years, the key question is whether the Sunnei duo can break through this cold structural problem with a "creative answer."

💡 Insider Gossip

• The winning bidder was Aeffe: When the Sunnei duo put themselves up for sale in the form of a Christie's auction at their SS26 show, it turned out that just a few months later, Moschino's parent company, Aeffe Group, effectively won the bid and took them home. It's a delightful paradox: through a performance of selling themselves, they raised their value in the surest way possible and made their move.
• The brutal history of four CDs in three years: From the tragic death of Davide Renne in November 2023, through Appiolaza, to the Sunnei duo, Moschino has gone through four CDs in three years. The top priority of this appointment is "brand stabilization," beyond "creativity."
• "Stop the Fashion System": This was the phrase Franco Moschino printed directly onto his clothes in 1983. The rebellious spirit of the founder who criticized the fashion system itself has made its most perfect return, 40 years later, through two young designers who had been thrown out of that very system.