Loris Messina & Simone Rizzo: The Anti-System Duo Redefining Italian Luxury

The Untrained Origins: From Grenoble and Calabria to Milan

In an industry historically guarded by prestigious fashion academies and formal apprenticeships, Loris Messina and Simone Rizzo built their reputation by disregarding the established rules. Messina, hailing from Grenoble, France, and Rizzo, born in Calabria, Italy, first crossed paths in Milan before launching Sunnei in 2014 as a direct-to-consumer menswear label. By 2018, the brand expanded into womenswear, quickly capturing global attention for its fresh, unpretentious perspective on Italian fashion. Without formal training from traditional design schools, the duo approached garment construction with a sense of liberation that disrupted rigid Milanese traditions.

The Sunnei Identity: “Kindergarten for Adults”

From its inception, Sunnei carved out a distinct visual language in sharp contrast to conventional Italian glamour. Messina and Rizzo pioneered a signature aesthetic often described as a “kindergarten-for-adults,” characterized by oversized tailoring, modular streetwear, and bold primary color blocking. Beyond garment design, the duo mastered internet culture, community-driven engagement, and meme-able fashion moments that resonated deeply with a new generation of design enthusiasts. Their organic, disruptive growth saw Sunnei evolve from a grassroots independent project into a major fashion player, securing a majority investment from Vanguards in 2020.

The Performance-Art Runway Eras

What truly set Messina and Rizzo apart was their ability to turn the traditional fashion show into radical performance art. Over the seasons, their presentations became viral cultural moments:

• Spring/Summer 2023: The duo presented a mind-bending runway show featuring twin models performing rapid, quick-change transformations.
• Fall/Winter 2023: Models dramatically crowd-surfed directly into the standing audience during the catwalk finale.
• Spring/Summer 2024: Front-row guests were handed bidding paddles to rate each runway look in real time.
• Spring/Summer 2026: In a symbolic culmination of their Sunnei era, Messina and Rizzo partnered with Christie’s auction house to symbolically put themselves up for auction on the runway.

Taking the Helm at Moschino

In June 2026, parent company Aeffe and executive chairman Massimo Ferretti officially appointed Loris Messina and Simone Rizzo as co-creative directors of Moschino, succeeding Adrian Appiolaza. The appointment tasked the duo with bridging Franco Moschino’s radical 1980s pop-art irony with contemporary street culture and wearable conceptualism. Rather than treating pop culture as mere surface decoration, Messina and Rizzo set out to use it as a critical lens to engage Gen-Z and modern luxury consumers.

The SS27 Debut: Real-Life Streetwear on the Catwalk

Unveiled in September 2026 during Milan Fashion Week, their debut Spring/Summer 2027 collection for Moschino brought real-life urban performance to the catwalk. The presentation subverted traditional luxury codes, converting the runway into a collective and energetic street experience. By reactivating Franco Moschino’s foundational ethos of democratic satire through a contemporary street lens, Messina and Rizzo delivered an authentic and exciting new direction for the Italian house.

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