FASHION MAKES A MASKED RETURN

ROZZANO/ MILAN: No air kissing and no hugs, a safely distanced front row and face masks were de rigueur as Dolce & Gabbana had to rewrite the rules of high-end fashion engagement with one of the first physical shows of the Covid-19 era on Wednesday. Gucci too abandoned the catwalk for the launch of its new “Epilogue” collection on Friday, opting instead for portraits of its designers modelling their creations and a 12-hour livestream video from its campaign shoot in a resplendent palazzo in Rome. Part of Milan’s otherwise digital menswear fashion week, the open-air show was attended by guests wearing face masks as models strode down the catwalk and then stood in a garden a metre apart.

It was held on the university campus of the Humanitas medical research foundation, which is trying to develop a vaccine against the novel coronavirus - a project Dolce & Gabbana are helping to fund. With social distancing measures and travel restrictions preventing foreign models as well as guests from flying in, the coronavirus pandemic has forced high-end labels to throw out the traditional fashion show format.

Creative director Alessandro Michele, who took the helm at Gucci in 2015, said Friday’s event was the last in a three-part series focusing on the making of clothes and the behind-the-curtains work that goes into a fashion collection. In a 20-minute segment to showcase the new collection, Gucci presented portrait pictures of its designers wearing the clothes they created for Epilogue, meant to be both seasonless and genderless and due to enter stores in the autumn.

Michele’s flamboyant, flowery dresses, the use of bold colours and a nod to the 1970s have helped turn Gucci, part of French group Kering , into one of the fastest-growing brands in recent years.