Today’s AW17 show from Alessandro Michele at Gucci promised a fusion between tradition and the future. Named ‘The Alchemist’s Garden: an anti-modern laboratory’, his first unified men’s and women’s runway show was to be ‘a garden inhabited by signs, symbols and archetypes invoking and recalling remote worlds. The invites simply stated ‘what are we going to do with all this future?’
The show space had an other-worldly feel; a plexiglass tunnelled runway weaved its way around a pyramid at the centre of the scene, illuminated by red and purple lights. The pyramid was crowned with a weathervane in the shape of a rooster. The show began ominously, with a darkened room while lights began to flash and flicker within the tunnels and the music began to swell. Then the models began their march and Michele delivered his vision.
Florals were key and there were all manner and colour of floral and botanical prints that adorned the pieces throughout the collection. Most had a traditional feel and harkened back to a country garden perhaps; a feeling made more apparent by the printed parasols the models carried to shield themselves from the non-existent sun.
The influence of animals is ever-present at Gucci; this season one of the forms this took was a snake print, digitally rendered onto coats, skirts and boots. It was the perfect way to illustrate the mix of nature and technology. Bats were also referenced throughout; on a distinctly Batman-esque looking yellow and black sweater, and on a piece of knitwear that had the word ‘Chiroptera’ across the chest, which is the order of mammals that bats belong to.
Some of the stand out pieces were outerwear, with checked coats heavily embellished at the shoulders and an achingly cool black leather biker jacket that had studded edges and multi-coloured fringing. One male model had straps on his parka so he could wear it like a rucksack offering handsfree versatility.
Michele is an expert in print clashing, and he executed this deftly through his floral and check mixes. However, he placed clashes between the old and new too; a model would wear a traditional looking floral dress which would be styled with a glittering silver lip. Metallic fabrications of course played a big part in achieving these touches of the futuristic. Some models even had full glittering body stockings on, covering every inch of their body, including the face. On another stream of thought, nose piercings and an ACDC t-shirt gave a little dose of rock to the show. The now iconic Gucci tee was present, but this season it was evolved with graffiti scrawled across saying different things, one being ‘common sense is not that common.’
There was of course the masterful use of colour that allows Michele such an eclectic palette and makes his era of Gucci look so distinctly recognisable. In fact, this is such the norm for Gucci nowadays that it was some of the pieces in one single colour that had the most impact. One model sashayed down the runway in a bold purple, ruffled metallic dress that was rich and fresh.
There was a lot to take in at this show as 119 looks marched down the runway, and there could have been the risk that the thread of the message was lost in the volume. However, old and new, past and future, nature and technology, light and dark; Alessandro Michele delivered a true clash of opposites and made it work in classic Gucci style.
