If you don't know much about Jeremy Scott, this may be the perfect time to get acquainted.
A brief refresher: Scott is an American fashion designer who splits his time between his eponymous line and as the creative director of Moschino, but you probably know him better as BFF to a slew of pop stars, including Miley Cyrus, Katy Perry, and CL of 2NE1. His designs are loud, graphic, and, according to A$AP Rocky, they have helped bridge the gap between street and high fashion. But, like his famous friends, he also finds himself in the news, oftentimes for lawsuits that claim his designs are closer to copycats than couture.
However, no matter your opinion on how Scott interprets fashion, he's having a moment in the spotlight. MTV tapped him to redesign the Moonman statuette for the MTV Video Music Awards (VMAs), and the documentary, Jeremy Scott: The People's Designer, hits theaters September 18th. He's doing both projects hand-in-hand with Cyrus, who's hosting the VMAs and, naturally, appears in the film.
We caught up with him on Thursday at a run-through for the VMAs. Here's what he had to say.
Congrats on redesigning the Moonman! Walk me through what it felt like when you got the call from MTV.
“I just started crying! I was so floored. [The Moonman is] such an icon to me, it’s such a personal, pop cultural icon that I love. I was besides myself. I am still kind of mesmerized that I’m looking at it right now. That I was bestowed with this beautiful honor to play with something that I cherish so much —something that’s such an international icon of all the things I love, like music, fashion, style."
“I just started crying! I was so floored. [The Moonman is] such an icon to me, it’s such a personal, pop cultural icon that I love. I was besides myself. I am still kind of mesmerized that I’m looking at it right now. That I was bestowed with this beautiful honor to play with something that I cherish so much —something that’s such an international icon of all the things I love, like music, fashion, style."
How many renditions were there before landing on this one?
"There was only one idea. I knew what I wanted to do, and they loved it immediately, so we just went from there. It was so exciting to present it [to MTV] and for them to immediately love it." Do you get to keep one?
“You know, I haven’t even thought about that!" If you do get to keep one, where will you put it?
“On my chest, snuggled up next to me, every night!”
You have a documentary coming out next month, tell us about it.
"I’m really excited about it! It shows not only the work I have put into my own collection and the work up to the first Moschino show, but it goes back to where I grew up, back to the farm I grew up on. Of course, you get Katy [Perry], Rihanna, and Miley [Cyrus] all talking about me, and A$AP Rocky and Rita Ora, because they’re all people I work with. And, of course, you have the iconic moments, like Katy and I getting ready right before the Super Bowl, or her and I on the way to the Met Gala. Fundamentally, it’s an American success story. I come from very humble beginnings, and I think that it still tells people that you don’t have to be born with a silver spoon in your mouth. If you’re passionate, and you have a dream, and you work hard, it can still happen."
Speaking of your famous friends, who is going to slay it this weekend at the VMAs?
"Oh my goodness, well, Katy’s not going to come. I’m not supposed to tell that, sorry! But, she would have slayed it if she came! Rita is going to slay, Miley is going to bring fashion in spades, it’s going to be out of this world!"
I wonder how many changes she’s going to do…
"I don’t think that even she has the count down yet, because it’s so many. It’s going to be so exciting, because she brings such an evanescence. She brings so much joy to a crowd. It’s going to be one of the most memorable and fun VMAs of all time."
"There was only one idea. I knew what I wanted to do, and they loved it immediately, so we just went from there. It was so exciting to present it [to MTV] and for them to immediately love it." Do you get to keep one?
“You know, I haven’t even thought about that!" If you do get to keep one, where will you put it?
“On my chest, snuggled up next to me, every night!”
You have a documentary coming out next month, tell us about it.
"I’m really excited about it! It shows not only the work I have put into my own collection and the work up to the first Moschino show, but it goes back to where I grew up, back to the farm I grew up on. Of course, you get Katy [Perry], Rihanna, and Miley [Cyrus] all talking about me, and A$AP Rocky and Rita Ora, because they’re all people I work with. And, of course, you have the iconic moments, like Katy and I getting ready right before the Super Bowl, or her and I on the way to the Met Gala. Fundamentally, it’s an American success story. I come from very humble beginnings, and I think that it still tells people that you don’t have to be born with a silver spoon in your mouth. If you’re passionate, and you have a dream, and you work hard, it can still happen."
Speaking of your famous friends, who is going to slay it this weekend at the VMAs?
"Oh my goodness, well, Katy’s not going to come. I’m not supposed to tell that, sorry! But, she would have slayed it if she came! Rita is going to slay, Miley is going to bring fashion in spades, it’s going to be out of this world!"
I wonder how many changes she’s going to do…
"I don’t think that even she has the count down yet, because it’s so many. It’s going to be so exciting, because she brings such an evanescence. She brings so much joy to a crowd. It’s going to be one of the most memorable and fun VMAs of all time."