HOW GOING GARISH SAVED GUCCI
It’s all down to stars who don’t care about looking a fright (or eye-watering price tags) – just as long as they get noticed . . .
PARISIAN movie stars and It-girls drifted among the beachside tables in crisp cream linens and little black dresses, displaying the understated chic which, annoyingly, only the French seem to get right.
This was one of the most exclusive events at last week’s Cannes Film Festival, a lunch to celebrate women working in the movie industry, hosted by the luxury fashion house Kering.
Then in walked Salma Hayek — and the mood was abruptly shattered. Forget the minimalist uniform modelled by everyone else. From her £2,405 pink silk pyjama suit with flared trousers, to the £1,600 fuchsia velvet bag embellished with angel wings, to the enormous bug-eye sunglasses which covered most of her face, the diminutive American movie star was literally dripping in Gucci, a garish ensemble that surely would have won her first prize as an Elton John tribute act.
while it wasn’t quite the look for an elegant ladies lunch, part of you has to admire Hayek’s audacity. The paparazzi went bananas and minutes later her image was pinged round the world for everyone to gawp at in wonder — not to mention some horror.
You may imagine that with such mish-mashes as this, Gucci is worn only by out- of-touch stars who’ve lost their stylists. Far from it. Gucci’s ghastly look is the latest must-have.
There’s barely an A-lister who hasn’t been seen in Gucci lately. From Beyonce and her daughter Blue Ivy in matching eau de nil dresses, to One Direction’s Harry Styles in a floral suit — not to mention Lady Gaga in a Seventies ensemble of burgundy flares and burnt orange sweater — it seems the crazier the get-up, the more in-demand it is.
So why on earth would any star worth their salt actually want to look, well, almost bad?
It’s simple: the more outré the look, the more publicity it gets. In this Instagram age, an image has the power to invigorate a career. It doesn’t matter how chic it is — just that it’s noticeable. And it’s this tactic which has fuelled Gucci’s stunning growth over the past two years.
It’s significant that Hayek, 50, is married to Francois-Henri Pinault, the billionaire CEO of Kering — which owns some of the world’s most prestigious fashion brands, including Gucci. Thus, despite her gasp-inducing get-up, the endless coverage it generated means it would have been seen as yet another publicity coup.
SO WHO is behind this trend? who thought of throwing sequins, tartan, patchwork and florals together in a look so awful it’s almost great?
As recently as 2014, the 96-year-old Italian fashion brand, best known for its suede loafers with the horse-bit buckles, was suffering from declining sales. Something radical was needed to get Gucci talked about again.
And so, Kering bosses took a gamble on appointing as creative director Alessandro Michele, who had been working in the design team at Gucci since 2002. It was his passion to create a ‘more is more’ style which won him the coveted job.
Instead of creating pared-back looks, Michele, 45, threw together clashing colours and patterns, crazy sunglasses, bags jangling with embellishment and shoes studded with flowers and jewels with abandon. The result is that while a Gucci outfit can look like a panto costume, you can never accuse it of being dull.
The impact was immediate. Fashion watchers took notice of something drenched with colour and surprises. And celebrities looked for something to get themselves noticed.
Gucci’s gamble paid off. By the fourth quarter of 2016, its revenue grew by 21 per cent, almost twice as fast as analysts expected. In a luxury market which has seen rapidly declining sales in the past few years, largely due to the Asian and Russian recessions, this growth is extraordinary.
The trademark garish look isn’t limited to catwalks or couture. It’s made such an impact that High Street stores are now heaving with Guccialike looks, from floral shift dresses to sequined bomber jackets and micro bags studded with faux jewels.
‘There is no question Alessandro Michele has been the driving force behind the improved performance at Gucci,’ says Kristin Graham, senior consultant at analysts Pragma.
‘He has moved the target audience from age 35 to 60 to the younger, Millennials and completely refreshed the brand’s look.
‘This is now fashion for people who want to make a statement, and celebrities and bloggers have been fuelling its growth because the pieces are so Instagrammable.’
You do wonder how many 25-yearolds can afford to splash out £1,300 on a handbag, but walk down Bond Street and you’ll see Gucci fever in action. Outside its flagship store, a queue snakes around the corner while bouncers and a velvet rope control those itching to spend £1,790 on a duchesse silk floral bomber jacket or £725 on a pair of perilously high suede platform loafers.
we might have laughed at Salma Hayek’s rather ghastly ode to Elton John, but you can be sure she and her husband are laughing even harder... all the way to the bank.