Next-level Showmanship
Gucci’s latest runway show at Milan Fashion Week delivered pomp, circumstance and this autumn’s must-have accessories
Gucci’s latest runway show at Milan Fashion Week delivered pomp, circumstance and this autumn’s musthave accessories
1 The fall-winter Gucci show invitation arrived at our hotel in a wooden crate. Inside? A mask of Hermaphroditus, the nonbinary child of Aphrodite and Hermes—a harbinger of the androgynous collection to come. 2 The opening look featured a model wearing a black mask adorned with long spikes—one of the many facepieces showcased throughout. The run-of-show explained GermanAmerican philosopher Hannah Arendt’s exploration of persona as it related to an actor’s mask and its use in hiding one identity to display another. 3 Guests were advised to wear sunglasses to the show, which was built around a pillar of mirrors in the epicenter of the Gucci hub in Milan and illuminated by more than 120,000 lights. The show kicked off with a thunderous lion’s roar, the lights flashing and an operatic soundtrack.
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Gucci showed menswear and womenswear together—it’s one of an increasing numbers of fashion houses to do so. Designer Alessandro Michele has long been a champion of gender fashion fluidity—we’ve seen this in previous collections, where he’s mixed lace into traditionally masculine constructions such as a trench coat, or dressed a male model in a floral jumpsuit and a woman in chequered tailoring.
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Michele’s signature retro-eclectic style was on full show in fall’s womenswear pieces, this time with a saccharine dose of whimsy in the form of puffsleeved minidresses in plaids and lace as well as Pierrot collars and romantic bows. Words such as “ice” and “lolly” etched throughout fed childhood nostalgia.
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Beyond updated contemporary classics, such as the Gucci Zumi and Rajah bags reworked in new two-toned colourways, unusual touches such as 24-karat gold ear cuffs—inspired by artist Eduardo Costa’s 1966 work—and volleyball knee pads were also present on the runway.
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For men, there were slouchy threepiece suits with unfinished details such as exposed stitching around the waist and ankles, creating a niptuck effect. Notable pieces include a bold-shouldered jumpsuit in ’70s racecar red and yellow, and a quilted bowling shirt inspired by the turnof-the-century carpet-print.