Star Trek on the Runway??

I was browsing one of my favorite sites yesterday (Tom and Lorenzo), and came across a colorful collection for Fall 2018 by Italian designer Moschino.   The  collection clearly was influenced by the bright stylings of the Mod era 1960s with a lot of Jackie Kennedy in full Technicolor and clearly other pop references.

What’s this got to do with Star Trek?  Well, if imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, than one of Moschino’s designers must be a Trekkie.  How else can you explain the mint green spangled gown that would either make the late William Ware Theiss proud OR have him suing for stealing his design?

Look closely, and you can see the gown was clearly influenced by Mudd’s Women. The spangled mint green fabric and upper bodice with diagonal slash is clearly Ruth Bonaventure’s gown.  And the bottom half of the gown clearly borrows from Eve McHuron’s pink gown with its diamond-shaped slashes across the hips and thighs.

Left: A model sashays down the runway in a Trek-inspired gown in the Moschino Fall 2018 Collection. Right: Eve and Ruth in the originals by William Ware Theiss in Star Trek’s “Mudd’s Women”

Now I admit, Mudd’s Women is not one of my most favorite episode of TOS, (and I’ll do a write up on it eventually) but I’m both happy and a little bummed to see Theiss’ influence a good 52 years after the original airing.   Happy that the costume design still resonate a half century later, bummed because this isn’t even trying to be original, but a clear mash-up of the two original gowns.  Well, I hope the Theiss estate gets a chunk of the profit!

You can see the whole collection here.