The latest show for Gucci from Alessandro Michele radiated cross-cultural meanings. There were Russian babushka headscarves and modest, covered-up folk-costume dresses next to spangled, ’20s showgirl chain mail and jewellery; a pagoda hat and Chinese pyjamas; English tweed, Scottish plaid, and a Fair Isle sweater; Italian ’80s vintage beige businessman suiting; a glam power-woman ruched dress and gold leather peplum jacket. Gucci logos were everywhere, of course, and there were branded love letters to Sega, Major League Baseball, manga, Paramount, and Russ Meyer.
The models’ runway procession appeared to be bolted together from the clothing of many cultures, Michele’s metaphor for how people today construct their identities – a population undergoing self-regeneration through the powers of tech, Hollywood, Instagram, and Gucci.
“We are the Dr. Frankenstein of our lives. There’s a clinical clarity about what I am doing. I was thinking of a space that represents the creative act. I wanted to represent the lab I have in my head. It’s physical work, like a surgeon’s.”