It was Gucci and the ancient necropolis of Alyscamps, a stone throw from the French city of Arles, that followed the Louis Vuitton cruise show in the Cote d’Azur. The lightness and sun-drenched mood of French Riviera got erased by a massive dose of historical weight and a sense of mysticism that Alessandro Michele adores to implement into his clothes, and the Italian brand. It’s not a surprise that the collection was heavy in details and focused on a beautiful chaos, typical for the escapist universe of the creative director. The line-up was like a moving closet for women and men, or rather for anyone who feels free to wear the clothes. That’s Alessandro’s way of pushing Gucci into no-gender-boundaries label. So there it all was on that, literally, ‘on fire’ runway: a gown with a skeleton thorax embroidered on the bodice (disturbingly magnificent), bridal dresses embellished with Christian crosses, leggings with memento mori written all over, richly embroidered toga dresses, punk-ish boots, opulent robes, jaw-dropping faux fur coats and lots of flowers (that replaced real accessories). I no longer look at Michele’s collection in terms of clothes only. That just doesn’t make sense. His creations are like a theatre, where everything matters: the styling, the models, the setting, the music.
Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
