Salvador Dali’s Melting Clocks—official name The Persistence of Memory—was Jeremy Scott’s starting point at Moschino this season. The painting’s drippy timepieces inspired an opening group of skirt suits and knit dresses whose once rigorous lines were rendered drippy; hems dipped and curled like waves, and houndstooth, a pattern that typically has a lot of bite, was distorted and softened so that it looked almost poured on, rather than uniform. There were also flower prints that oozed down the canvas that was their fitted button-front dress. Even said buttons appeared to have spent too long too close to a heat source. All this was magnified by Michel Gaubert’s slo-mo soundtrack, 45 rpm versions of Frankie Goes to Hollywood’s “Relax” and Corey Hart’s “Sunglasses at Night” played at 33 rpm speed.

“We’re living in distorted times,” Scott said backstage, delivering the soundbite. “Things that seem familiar aren’t familiar. I mean, isn’t it hard to figure things out?” The first half of the show, then, looked like a witty rejoinder to last season’s pool floaties, which were a commentary on an out of control economy: inflation replaced by deflation. Dali’s 1931 masterpiece, after all, was a Surrealist response of sorts to the disintegration of society’s belief in upward progress.

But Scott’s usual gung-ho commitment to a theme didn’t sustain itself. Midway through, the collection switched gears, and the drips were replaced by an aristo-punk vibe featuring large crystal embellishments and even larger metal spikes as motifs. Considering the monster mohawk hairpieces the models wore, it might’ve been a nod in Vivienne Westwood’s direction—we’ve seen other tributes to the late Dame Viv lately—but then again, maybe not. It’s a testament to the meaningful fun that’s usually had at Scott’s Moschino shows that this one didn’t entirely meet the moment.