Is Moschino Glamorizing Drug Use With Latest Fashion Line?

Not everything that looks pretty should be part of a fashion catwalk - especially if those pretty things include pills.

Italian fashion brand Moschino recently unveiled its pill-themed fashion line for its spring collection. While fashionistas deem it as another episode in pricey accessories, the brand may have to reconsider their $75 iPhone 6 cover of blister pack drug tablets, thousand-dollar T-shirt dress with a giant pill bottle, and a $950 bag that looks like pharmaceutical container.

The Telegraph UK noted that this may be a nod to the excess in this decade, but when models in the Moschino Spring 2017 line carried the drug-themed clothing and accessories down the catwalk, more than a few were offended.

Randy Anderson, a Minneapolis-based drug and alcohol counselor, did not find these fashionable buys witty or funny, as these clothes and bags actually shows the reality of 2016: the continuing opoid epidemic. He noted that tens and thousands of people die of accidental drug overdoses per year, often from over-prescription of painkillers like Vicodin and OxyCotin.

Anderson set up a Change.org petition where he stated that these items marketed to the public could promote drug use, pointing out the countless media reports on drug overdose from prescription pain meds, including music icon, Prince.

Moschino defended their designs, however, with a representative saying, "The Moschino capsule collection was inspired by a play on the word 'capsule' translated literally as a collection of 'capsule-themed' products. There was never any intent to promote prescription drug abuse."

In line of the flak that the clothes brought online, Nordstrom retails have ceased selling the items online. A representative told The Los Angeles Times that they appreciate all the constructive feedback that they received from concerned customers and "ultimately decided to remove the collection from our site and the three stores where we offered it."

The controversial line is still available at Saks, Net-A-Porter, Farfetch, Harrods, Selfridges, and Browns.