As Jeremy Scott drove through Los Angeles, he sort of had an epiphany. He had just started doing interviews for the position of creative director at Moschino.
Mr. Scott stated, “It just hit me: Moschino, McDonald’s,” as soon as he spotted the recognizable McDonald’s emblem. “Pop culture has always been very important to me,” he continued.
Soon after, he was hired by Moschino, where he collaborated with the graphics team to reshape the golden arches of the fast-food business into the iconic heart shape of the Italian fashion brand.
After leaving Moschino this year, Mr. Scott studied McDonald’s visual signals in greater detail when creating his debut collection for the brand, which debuted in early 2014. It had red and yellow robes, skirts, and jackets; a handbag modeled by Happy Meal packaging; and a phone cover resembling a French fry carton with a heart fashioned like the golden arches on it.
“To take any icon that is so understood globally and then twist it—whether it’s McDonald’s, Mickey Mouse, or Madonna—that’s what makes the message go so long and loud,” he stated.
Who is not a fan of French fries? 48-year-old Mr. Scott continued.
Since he had altered the McDonald’s emblem without the company’s consent, his collection caused considerable controversy.
He claimed, “We were flying by the seat of our pants and it was an act of rebellion.” However, following the runway presentation, McDonald’s agreed to an arrangement whereby Moschino may utilize specific visuals in return for a donation to Ronald McDonald House Charities.
McDonald’s initial connection to the fashion industry was not with the Moschino collection. Children’s clothes created in collaboration with McDonald’s was offered at Sears and other department stores in the 1970s. Later, for the 1997 movie “The Fifth Element,” designer Jean Paul Gaultier developed a futuristic McDonald’s uniform, and in a 2003 video for W magazine, artist Tom Sachs included model Kate Moss frying hamburgers in an improvised costume.
Since then, several popular labels have adopted McDonald’s aesthetics, and the fast food chain has likewise looked to expand its partnerships with high-end fashion firms. Senior director of global brand, content, and culture for the fast-food company Jennifer DelVecchio stated that “we are looking to meet our fans through the things they love” and that “the intention around fashion has really picked up a lot of pace over the last three to five years.”
This month, McDonald’s unveiled their most recent clothing partnership: a range of Crocs clogs (with prices starting at $70), some of which bear resemblance to Grimace, Hamburglar, and Birdie from McDonald’s. The range, which comes after Crocs’s collaborations with Kentucky Fried Chicken and Balenciaga, will be offered only online.
Crocs’ chief marketing officer, Heidi Cooley, claimed that the shoes appeal to people’s nostalgia for McDonald’s characters. Both McDonald’s and Crocs “have fans that get tattoos of our iconic products,” the spokesperson continued.
The skateboard company Palace collaborated with McDonald’s to create a 15-piece collection in August that featured apparel and a $60 skateboard deck with a M painted on it. Other labels that have recently partnered with McDonald’s include Travis Scott-founded Cactus Jack and Cactus Plant Flea Market, which produced plastic figurines of McDonald’s characters for a limited-edition Happy Meal last year along with a line of T-shirts, sweatpants, and hoodies to match.
Guram Gvasalia, the creative director and creator of Vetements, wrote in an email, “I remember sitting in a Starbucks, brainstorming where to do the next spring-summer show, and I looked at the iced coffee in my hand, thinking McDonald’s.” “I still had the aftertaste in my tongue from the previous night, when we went out and ended up at McDonald’s on Champs-Élysées because it was the only restaurant open that late. I immediately recognized it was the ideal location for the upcoming concert.
“It’s a fantastic brand, McDonald’s,” Mr. Gvasalia, 38, exclaimed. It’s the fashion statement of food. When you travel, you see it everywhere and your heart thrills because you know what to expect when you enter.
Mr. Vain stated that McDonald’s Finnish marketing department was the one to start Vain’s partnership. “They wanted us to make McDonald’s seem like a cool place to work and they needed to hire more people,” he claimed. Using components from previous McDonald’s uniforms, the project designers created new outfits that were shown off during a runway display at a Helsinki McDonald’s in November and then made available to staff members in Finland.
McDonald’s gave Vain a fee, which also went toward paying for the outfits and the production of the runway show. The second founder of Vain, Roope Reinola, reported that the company also received a large number of gift cards for fast food. He declared, “We ate way too much.”
