When Alessandro Michele was announced as the new creative director of Gucci in January 2015, the fashion world was surprised. Despite working within the brand for 12 years, his stark visionary difference to his predecessor, Frida Giannini, made him an unconventional choice. Choosing a maximalist, aristocratic sensuality over her pared-down and refined sex-appeal, he is reimagining today’s woman of luxury, signaling a return of theatricality and the eccentric. The fashion world seems enamored by the Roman’s creative sentimentality, which he owes to his mother’s love of film and and his father’s interest in sculpture.
Thrown into the deep end, Michele immediately mastered the Fall 2015 Womenswear collection, which he only had five days to prepare. Within a matter of hours, he ‘destroyed everything’ (in his own words) by pulling inspiration from personal favourite vintage pieces; silk, patterned blouses and antique textiles were the roots of his Gucci garden. He even used the rose-printed red toile covering his dogs’ bed to line Gucci handbags.
What makes Michele so innovative in this fast-paced world of fashion is his trust in his intuition. Campaigns vary thematically, but the new Gucci aesthetic is personal and strong and stands out against the deconstructive and utilitarian consensus. He brings back theatricality to fashion – a distinct, over-saturated style that is deeply personal and does not simply produce what will appease influencers, but seeks to inspire in its own right. I like to interpret it as a response to the ‘norm-core’ trend of deconstructing fashion.
The designer takes elements from the past – heavy embroidery and embellishments – and he incorporates them into our contemporary experience. Even the campaigns pay homage to the past: punk, soul, disco and British heritage scenes are referenced in analogue colour tones. The post-modern world encompasses a multi-referential awareness of the fluidity of medium and time – which Michele appears to know all too well. “I think we need to dream”, he told Vogue’s Hamish Bowles, perhaps referring to current affairs. There is comfort in the visualization of “something romantic, in dream-time – like in a movie”. But there is a bittersweet awareness that the dream is an escape: the heavy use of florals and jewellery inspired by Victorian mourning lockets suggests the fragility of the dream and the symbiosis of growth and decay.
In a world that is all about consumption and destruction, this vision of flourishing fashion is a breath of fresh air – however, he not only visualizes nostalgia, but also incorporates the future and what it may mean to us today. In February’s women’s F/W 17/18 show, the models walked down a claustrophobic runway encapsulated by a glass tube, which surrounds a massive pyramid-sculpture – a symbol of occult power. The dystopian show highlighted our numbness to ideology and worrying indicators about what is to come. Michele muses that old things make him feel contemporary. Juxtaposing the nostalgic past with the dystopian future grounds us in our current situation.
Ultimately, Michele is a fashion rebel. He encourages a hands-on, DIY approach to fashion – embroidery, ornate details, monograms and patches are used to personalise and are given meaning through his references to British punk and contemporary graffiti. This is part of his genius: Michele makes direct references to streetwear, and recognises the importance of a universal appeal of fashion. He is building upon the concept of individuality and the idea that you can wear your essence on your sleeve. The characters Michele creates are a pastiche of individuality, wearing berets, horn-rimmed intellectual-esque glasses and studded, embroidered leather jackets within one single outfit. This is the epitome of the post-modern individual, liberally combining fragments of culture to incarnate a new meaning.
And who could forget the ‘TFW Gucci’ advertisement campaign, made in collaboration with Instagram illustrators and artists? No other fashion house could have pulled a risky venture into the meme world off like Gucci, which just highlights the momentum of Michele.
I am so excited to see what inspiring concepts Alessandro Michele can bring to Gucci in the future. Until then, I will just have to lust after his designs and implement little Gucci elements to my wardrobe one patch at a time!
Photo sources:
(cover photo) http://time.com/collection/2017-time-100/4736178/alessandro-michele/
http://www.mameyelnuevonegro.com/gucci-primavera-verano-2016/
http://www.fashiongonerogue.com/gucci-pre-fall-2016-campaign/
https://hypebeast.com/2016/12/gucci-spring-summer-2017-campaign
http://www.dazeddigital.com/fashion/article/35181/1/gucci-s-making-memes…