Gucci and Elton John –how can you lose?
Alessandro Michele digs into the archives of his friend –the rock star icon–for Spring-Summer 2018
Ice skaters, Disney, Sega and the costume archive of music icon Elton John are among the mixed bag of references for Gucci’s Spring-Summer 2018.
It’s the latest chapter in the commercially successful narrative started by Alessandro Michele nearly three years ago.
Given the phenomenal hit of his still relatively short tenure at Gucci, it’s easy to predict just how fans would once again lap up Michele’s new season’s collection, however atypical and convoluted his references might be.
Having captured the global zeitgeist, Gucci with Michele at its creative helm must be the envy of every fashion house at the moment, with the brand consistently reporting revenue increase each year.
In the past few seasons, Gucci has shod every fashionable feet in its now much-copied Princetown loafer mules, and has made toting a logo bag cool again.
Gucci has also made consumers clamoring for its cotton logo T-shirt, retailing for up to P50,000 a pop.
For the Spring-Summer 2018 collection, which hits stores just about now, Michele serves up bold ’80s shoulders, structured tailoring on women’s wear, luxe vintage sportswear, sequins and glitter aplenty.
Michele pays homage to Elton John’s costume archive from the 1970s and ’80s, with a good portion of the runway looks a nod to the musician’s outré onstage wardrobe by Bob Mackie—the celebrated designer who has also made costumes for the likes of Cher, Diana Ross, Tina Turner, Bette Midler and Liza Minnelli. The musician and Michele are each other’s fan, which earned the designer an invite to visit John’s wardrobe archive. Michele returned the favor by devoting a section of the spring collection in John’s honor, with a special spangled blue “Gucci Elton John” label on the pieces. (Early this year, the 70-year-old British singer announced Gucci
would be creating the wardrobe for his threeyear farewell tour, which begins in September.) But what’s there for customers who have no predilection for the outlandish? Michele underscores again his brand of modernity by mining nostalgic references for the accessories, remixing and reworking them for today’s consumer. Key bag for the season is the Ophidia collection, a vintage design that mixes suede with the signature Web stripe, for instance; or the GG logo with the Web stripe. It comes in totes and shoulder bags, but the season’s get has to be the belt bag. The Ophidia also comes in totes for men. The Guccy—take note, it’s the old spelling of the brand, and also a dig at counterfeits—print shoulder bag, rendered in Sega’s graphic font and another nod to the ’80s, will also make a fine addition to the bag lover’s rotation this season. The same print comes in a portfolio style for both men and women. A kooky new addition is the Gucci Goma shopper, a utilitarian logo-embossed tote made of rubber reminiscent of vintage beach bags. For shoes, the beloved Gucci mules are reincarnated in GG logo woven velvet slippers with crystal trim, and a furtrimmed option for men. There’s also a new fringe Horsebit slide for both men and women. Gucci eyewear for the summer is all about Elton John, with quirky shapes and colored lenses, of quasi-futuristic inspirations.