With the sudden departure of Frida Giannini at Gucci last year, after an intense decade of striving to increase the house's profitability, a new man was welcomed onto the forefront of the Italian fashion scene- Alessandro Michele.
The first collection Michele produced for the house somewhat shocked the industry. The Gucci Girl seemed to be non-existent with questions circling Michele about her gender and individual identity. A seemingly strange contradiction to Tom Ford, the man who brought the house of Gucci back to life in the early 90s, presenting us with a evidently strong, sexy and powerful Gucci Girl.
For Michele's second collection for the house, the Gucci Girl resembled almost a mirror image from last season's character. Firstly, we had that intensely garish colour palette (in contrast to the ubiquitous ones shown by other designers for the Cruise collections), including the strange playfulness of metallics and audacious primaries put into one look. The extreme 70s grannified image that continues to douse every model, contributing to this generally OTT mish mash of abnormality.
As I said in my last review, the styling let the execution of the show down, but perhaps the lack of styling is deliberate in the mind of Michele? Lastly we still had this sense of the Gucci Girl being, infact a man, from the nerdy looking models who paraded down the Moroccan souk rugs in androgynous tailored suits, comprising of suit trousers which sat low on the hip and boxy, oversized blazers that did not complement the form. Some looks like the PVC coated skirt with the Gucci belt and a sheer lace tank top had been brought back, exactly the same, however in a more intensely unwearable colour combination.
Fortunately we didn't have to lay our eyes on those awful Horsebit, fur-lined slippers, but instead we saw something new- outrageously shimmery granny loafer stilettos, only something that Grayson Perry or perhaps drag royalty- Rupaul would be seen to wear.
One particular look stood out for me, this sunshine yellow lace gown with all manner of motifs splattered across it. How one could describe it, "just Frida Kahlo on cheap acid" as said by Stella Botes, and I think we all very much agree.
I could eventually see two types of girl Michele was trying to depict. Firstly the girl who walks out of a vintage shop victorious- draped in mink and dripping in luxe iridescent fabrics and secondly, the girl who takes the time to create her own wardrobe from slashing her grandmother's toile du jouy upholstered armchairs, stealing her shoes and fashioning a ruffled maxi out of her floral curtains.
I can now see Michele's effort to send the house into his new direction, however I am still unsure what the house wants to represent as a global luxury brand.
Picture Courtesy of Vogue.co.uk
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