November 24, 2022 |
As Alessandro Michele steps down as Gucci’s creative director after seven years at the helm of the Italian house, Team Ten look back at our favourite Michele moments on the catwalk and beyond.
Sophia Neophitou-Apostolou – Editor-in-Chief
Nothing epitomised the sumptuous, all-inclusive fantasy that Alessandro Michele brought to Gucci than his Cruise destination show experiences. For total fashion immersion, these shows can’t be beaten. I’ll never forget heading to Arles, in the late spring of 2019, where he held his show after dark in the ancient Roman burial ground Alyscamps. Bells tolled and the mist and smoke rolled, as we walked through the graveyard to our seats. Our way was lit by fire torches. It was spectacular and so atmospheric and that was before we’d seen any of the clothes. It was an almost overwhelming visual feast. 114 looks and every model with an individual hair and make-up look designed to show off their unique looks. His Gucci was never about conformity. It was a great celebration of fashion individualism. There truly was something for everyone in his world.
Claudia Croft – Editor
My Gucci moment (and there have been many memorable ones) has to be Alessandro Michele’s very first women’s show in Milan. I wasn’t at the menswear, which had caused such a sensation. So I crammed into an industrial looking set (very different to the glossy style of his predecessor Frida Giannini) wondering what this unknown designer, who had put men in pussy bow blouses a few weeks earlier, would do next. The first look, a sumptuous cherry-red leather midi-skirt, worn with a sheer lace blouse, GG vintage looking belt and librarian sandals provided the answer. His gorgeous geeks, thrilled with youthful whimsy. The looks were quirky with a strong sense of heritage and craft – Michele clearly knew his way around the Gucci archives. And boy could he create a hit accessory. Look 4 gave us our first sight of those fur-trimmed loafer/mules that were about to become everyone’s new fashion obsession. It was nostalgic but also felt very now as Michele’s, fresh faced, youthful band of models walked down the catwalk, looking like nerdy arts students ambling between lectures. Looking back, that show seems pared back – the maximalist styling that almost overwhelmed the senses would come later. But for AW15, you could see the bones of Michele’s Gucci and they were good.
Garth Allday Spencer – Fashion Creative Director
Boys in pussy bow blouses! That very first Michele collection still holds a special place in my heart. The models looked so pleasantly awkward. Jackets were slightly too short, the shirts semi-sheer, and one model even sported a Where’s Wally sweater vest. From the jump, we got to see Michele’s appreciation for tailoring and his fusion of gendered dress codes. Soft, gentle and totally romantic, It was clear from the very beginning his Gucci would be special.
Paul Toner – Features and Online Editor
For me it’s got to be Michele’s AW20 menswear collection. Marking five years since his debut collection at the house (which he designed in five days, I must add), he veered away from showing co-ed for a standalone menswear outing. The collection saw a shift from Michele’s romantic tailoring and bonkers prints. Out instead came grass-stained slouched jeans ripped at the knees, shrunken school boy uniforms and lads in baby-doll dresses worn as tops. It was if Michele had raided Kurt and Courtney’s wardrobe. His roomy cardies, her kiddy dresses, all funnelled though Michele’s non-conformist handwriting. Top tier stuff.
ZAC APOSTOLOU – DIGITAL AND CONTENT EDITOR
Michele’s final catwalk was particularly special. Beyond the clothes – which included suit trousers transformed into chaps, glittery tracksuits and Gremlins – the Gucci team impressively casted 68 sets of identical twins. Unbeknownst to the audience, who were split in two, both watching separate fashion shows take place behind screens, it wasn’t until the finale that the magic was truly revealed. Each pair, in identical outfits, walked hand-in-hand, in a gesture of solidarity. It’s proven to be an emotional end to a spectacular tenure.
Emily Phillips – Features Assistant
Alessandro Michele’s AW18 collection for Gucci was disturbingly beautiful – a sensational horror story – and as a die-hard horror fan myself, it lives in my head rent-free. Referencing Mary Shelley’s radical 19th century novel, Frankenstein, Michele offered a metaphorical, post-human take on the superficial construction of identity, irradiated in the LED lights of the information age. It caused me to question: who are we really? Who am I really without my digital identity? Stepping into a surgical theatre, a machine-like march of pallid models strode through a suite of operating tables sporting supersized optical frames and a smorgasbord of floral prints, folksy knits and high-octane metallics. Dipped in feathers, sequins and mesh body bags, it was a palpable exploration of textures, vying to be touched. It entered into an uncanny dissection of clothing, eras and cultures, strung together but gaudy Gucci motifs – who doesn’t love a little kitsch? Some models held doppelganger casts of their own head in their hands. Another had a snake slithering across her tweed sleeves and one carried a chameleon – perhaps a nod to the internet camouflaging our true identities. There were creepy, third-eye prosthetics too and neonatal dragons in a motherly embrace – who knew I needed a fictional flying reptile for a pet!?
GEORGIA EDWARDS – FASHION ASSISTANT
Michele and Harry Styles’ collaborative collection, Gucci Ha Ha Ha, particularly caught my eye. Whether that was influenced by the fact it involved Harry Styles, I don’t know, but I was drawn to the layered looks which reflected both the Italian brand and Styles’ English heritage. The collection is a love letter to self-expression, as Gucci took on a fun, new masculine dress transformation which was inspired by the pair’s long-term friendship. On my Christmas list you will definitely find the cartoon grumpy bear T-shirt.
TAIBA AL NASSAR – FASHION INTERN
Gucci’s Love Parade collection embodied everything Alessandro Michele loves about film, shining a spotlight on his obsession for old Hollywood glamour, underpinned by contemporary Los Angeles style. With the iconic Chinese Theater and Hollywood Boulevard as the collection’s backdrop, sequinned gowns, feather boas, and cowboy hats paraded across the paved stars who originally gave birth to such eccentric staples. In true Michele fashion, the collection was a seductive show brimming with opulence.
