Mood board: Richly upholstered screens and a carpet slithering with serpents and blooming florals set the stage for a powerfully romantic Gucci show. New creative director Alessandro Michele is coming into his own at the historic Florentine house, where his vision of a more poetic, natural, eccentric, but deeply layered, woman translates into beautifully intricate, very individual, delicate clothes that somehow also manage to be light as air. If this is the new direction of luxury, sign us up please.
Best in show: The workmanship was off the charts in this luxury-fused collection, leaving our jaws dropping at nearly every look. Most exquisite was the chinoiserie series that was either painted over Gucci’s formerly dusty GG canvas print (transforming a basic trench coat into cherry blossom wonderland) or embroidered into grass green tracksuits with mink trim.
Finishing touches: Michele was formerly Gucci’s accessories designer so it’s no surprise that the accessory department has been hit with a serious dose of style steroids. Gucci’s famous web detailing (the red and green or blue and green thick striping) was transformed into cool low block heeled mules, while the flat horsebit loafer mule is now covered in an ornate embroidered silk. The best of the rest – geek-girl 1970s eyewear, intellectual berets and flamboyant chandelier earrings – all added an eccentric layer of coolness.
INFORMATION
Photography: Jason Lloyd-Evans
-
Year in review: top 10 design stories of 2024Wallpaper* magazine's 10 most-read design stories of 2024 whisk us from fun Ikea pieces to the man who designed the Paris Olympics, and 50 years of the Rubik's Cube
-
Sharon Smith's Polaroids capture 1980s New York nightlifeIDEA Books has launched a new monograph of Smith’s photographs, titled Camera Girl and edited by former editor-in-chief of LIFE magazine, Bill Shapiro
-
A multifaceted Beverly Hills house puts the beauty of potentiality in the frameA Beverly Hills house in Trousdale, designed by Robin Donaldson, brings big ideas to the residential scale
-
Alessandro Michele to exit his role as creative director of GucciItalian house Gucci has confirmed Alessandro Michele will leave after a seven-year tenure in which his eclectic aesthetic has proved a critical and commercial success
-
Milan Fashion Week Men’s S/S 2023: Fendi to PradaFrom Prada’s exploration of archetypal menswear garments to JW Anderson’s much-anticipated debut in the city, the best of Milan Fashion Week Men’s S/S 2023, as it happens
-
Milan Fashion Week A/W 2022: Prada to Bottega VenetaIn this extended report, Scarlett Conlon reports live from the Milan Fashion Week A/W 2022 shows, with rolling coverage as they take place on the runway
-
Gucci Love Parade LA to Bottega Veneta in Detroit: American fashion must-seesGrab your headscarf, sunglasses and driving shoes as we take a stylish road trip around the USA, where cities including Atlanta, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Detroit are dialling up their fashion focus with events, activations and runway shows
-
Step inside a Gucci campaign in FlorenceGucci Garden ‘Archetypes' exhibition brings to life 15 of Alessandro Michele's most iconic advertising campaigns for the Florentine brand
-
The filmic vision of Paris’ virtual men’s fashion weekTake an in-depth look at the trends of Paris' fashion week for Spring/Summer 2021, where brands turned to the moving image to express their collections virtually
-
A decade of fashion show history in picturesBritish photographer Jason Lloyd Evans shares his favourite backstage images, from the runway shows of Dolce & Gabbana, Chanel, Armani, Proenza Schouler, Versace and more
-
Gucci's Seoul show considers radical perspectives on ‘otherness’The fashion label sponsors ‘No Space, Just a Place, which invites guests to consider radical perspectives on ‘otherness’, led by Tunisian-born curator Myriam Ben Salah
