Breaking down Gucci‘s recent spring-summer 2016 collection is like reinterpreting every painting in a museum. Each look is totally different. And each has its own woman and story behind it. Seeing how Alessandro Michele revamps the house after Tom Ford’s over-sexualised female and Frida Giannini’s perfect ladies is really gripping. For his first summer season, Michele made embroidery his first privilege. Hundreds of embroidered, tiny sequins created cartoonish trompe l’oeil bows, frills and collars. One look with a bra and skirt was entirely constructed in this style – and if you are an observant person, you could notice adorable lady-bugs embellished on ties and parrots over-laying lace shirts. There is no better way to experience the craftsmanship of Alessandro’s vision as to see the newly renovated Gucci boutique on Via Montenapoleone. Here, you can touch the clothes from both autumn-winter 2015 and resort 2016 collections – each piece is absolutely different. A hand-embroidered bird on mink-coat lining; velvet flowers decorate the head-pieces; the tudor-esque rings are all about the phrase “the devil is in the details”. I totally agree with that in terms of Michele’s Gucci, and Italian fashion in overall.

The new designer of Gucci tipped his toes in Italian fashion history for this season – there were references to early Missoni’s lurex zig-zags and the bold 70’s of Italy. Michele said he has been thinking about the Renaissance and the 1970s specifically – both great eras for Italy in their own ways. Although this very bright collection was all about femininity (the ruffled dresses, the flower pussy-bows), it had a lot to do with punk. Biker jackets (of course, embroidered with roses), spiked killer-heels and sharp and mini-skirts were there too, during the fashion show. Gucci by Alessandro Michele is generally called “vintage” or “nostalgic“. But the designer totally disagrees with these two words. “It’s a big trip! Of course I am interested in personal style and quirkiness. There are things here that look vintage, but don’t really exist as vintage—it’s the illusion of it. I’m not nostalgic! I’d like to shake it up again.”

You can love or hate the new Gucci. Spring-summer 2016 might look too bold for some, if you look at the collection through thumbnails – however, one thing’s sure for both of the sides. The attention paid to the detail was  missed for a long time in ready-to-wear seasons, just like the real splendour and beauty of Italian craftsmanship. And Alessandro Michele is pioneering it once again in 2015.