Jeremy Scott had just started interviewing for the job of creative director at Moschino when he had an epiphany of sorts while driving through Los Angeles.

“I saw the iconic McDonald’s logo,” Mr. Scott said, “and it just hit me: Moschino, McDonald’s.”

“I’ve always been very much about pop culture,” he added.

He got the job at Moschino not long after, and he then began to work with its graphics team to contort the fast-food chain’s golden arches into the shape of a heart, a signature motif of the Italian fashion brand.

Mr. Scott, who left Moschino this year, delved deeper into McDonald’s visual cues while designing his first collection for the label, which was shown in early 2014. It included jackets, skirts and a robe in reds and yellows; a handbag shaped like Happy Meal packaging; and a cellphone case that looked like a carton of French fries with the golden arches-inspired heart on it.

“Whether it’s McDonald’s or Mickey Mouse or Madonna,” he said, “to take any icon that’s so understood globally and then twist it — that’s what makes the message go so long and loud.”

“Who doesn’t like French fries?” Mr. Scott, now 48, added.

His collection raised some eyebrows at McDonald’s because he had not received the company’s permission to rework its logo. “It was an act of rebellion and we were going by the seat of our pants,” he said. But in a deal reached after the runway show, McDonald’s gave Moschino permission to use certain graphics in exchange for a donation to Ronald McDonald House Charities.