A look from Gucci's Love Parade show
A look from Gucci's Love Parade show
And just as Romanticism emerged as a reaction to the rationalism of the Industrial Revolution, Michele’s vision grew out of a sense that fashion was due a new approach. Back in 2015, when the designer first showed his dressing-up box of patterns and bows and fur-lined mules, fashion had found itself in what you could call an ‘industrial’ phase, in that it had truly become an industry. Here the same photographers and models worked on campaigns for many different brands, almost standardising the approach to fashion imagery, while architects created stores for labels that looked the same wherever they were in the world. The gloss of luxury was spreading globally and, aesthetically, much of this manifested itself as a slick modernism.
Gucci, too, was part of this story. Having been reenergised by an injection of sexy glamour by its then creative director, Tom Ford (in the 1990s), it had settled down to become a maker of a chic and sleek wardrobe for the 21st–century version of the community the brand had been associated with in the 1960s and 70s: the international jet set.
When Alessandro Michele took the reins, however, there was an explosion of activity that re-imagined this famous label, and also had repercussions throughout the world of fashion. Revealingly, Alessandro Michele did say at Gucci Love Parade in Los Angeles that he had originally wanted to be a costume designer. This makes sense, as what he produces, though often eminently wearable, has more to do with the dramatic than the everyday. And, like a costume designer, he views his customers as characters, in this case, characters in search of pieces that will speak of their personalities and their belief in freedom of expression.
The creative method he employs is one of eclectic fusion. And that means not only the mixing of design tropes and ideas, but also of past and present. Michele is fascinated by time, seeing it not so much as a linear route from old to new, but more a toolbox from which he can pick and choose to create the designs of the future. Thus, today’s Gucci is full of reimagined versions of ideas to be found in its archive.
Indeed, as part of the celebration of the house’s centenary – it was 1921 when Guccio Gucci opened his first store in Florence – the company has opened a new archive in its birthplace. Occupying a historic palazzo (with roots in the 15th century), this is home to pieces stretching back over the years. Here you will find the famous Flora print, created for a scarf for Princess Grace (Kelly) in 1966, the bamboo-handled handbag, launched in 1947 (after World War II when there was a shortage of materials, but bamboo was available), and the Jackie bag, so called because Mrs Onassis was photographed so often carrying it. All these, as well as multiple vintage designs and motifs on display here – many comprising flora and fauna – have spawned fresh takes on established ideas and given birth to a rich and burgeoning universe of colour, pattern and materials. “I caress the roots of the past to create unexpected inflorescences, carving the matter through grafting and pruning,” explains Michele, identifying himself as a gardener, creating the new from the old; literally growing the future.
Part of that future, inevitably, exists in the virtual world, and Gucci has certainly pioneered innovative digital projects, regularly partnering with artists to create online imagery, launching retro-style arcade games, and even experimenting with virtual reality in its stores, where you can ‘try on’ a pair of shoes or a watch on your digital device screen.
Perhaps the most marked example of Michele’s confidence, though, is his willingness to join forces with other designers, such as Harlem’s hip-hop creative Dapper Dan and Demna Gvasalia at Balenciaga, for special projects. He is also keen to promote new, up-and-coming talent, such as the designers who feature on Gucci Vault, a recently launched bold, experimental online space in which the house promotes the work of these developing brands, functioning like a modern-day Medici, a patron of the art of fashion.
But as with many things Gucci, the Vault initiative effortlessly combines past with present. Again denoting supreme confidence, in a rejection of the given that fashion must always be slave to the new, Vault also offers vintage, pre-owned Gucci. These pieces are handpicked by Michele and the house archivists and are skilfully reconditioned and refreshed. Many are one-of-a-kind, and some special select items have even been customised by the creative director himself.
It takes a man of considerable ability and energy to marshal the kind of multi-faceted approach that Gucci exemplifies. A master blender. Someone not afraid to champion the quirky and eclectic, the surreal and the unexpected. But then Alessandro Michele is so steeped in the lore of Gucci – he worked in the design department for 12 years before being appointed as creative director – and so attuned to the nuances of popular culture, that he is perfectly placed to steer this famous Italian fashion laboratory into its next 100 years.
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