This was one fashion show that literally had everything! Alessandro Michele showcased his latest Gucci Fall 2018 collection in a cramped operating theatre set with a procession of transhumans, walking in trancelike step through a suite of operating theatres during the Milan Fashion Week Fall 2018.
While it may seem like Alessandro binge-watched Game of Thrones while designing this collection, he was actually reading up on Foucault’s ideas about identity politics, as well as Donna Haraway’s “A Cyborg Manifesto.” The operating theatre was a representation of Alessandro Michele’s lab, where he has been experimenting on the Gucci Cyborg – this was meant to represent “the act of cutting, splicing and reconstructing materials and fabrics to create a new personality and identity.”
The opening look for Gucci Fall 2018 collection was that of models carrying frighteningly realistic replicas of their own heads while others cradled reptiles such as a snake or a chameleon, and even carried a baby dragon — all of which were inspired by the “legend of the baby dragon in the jar,” the true story of an author who staged the discovery of a baby dragon in his garage in Oxfordshire, England.
They were Alessandro’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,” said Alessandro. “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.”
A host of quirky accessories complemented the looks, which were all boldly detailed with everything from Gucci’s signature florals to logos from Paramount Pictures and the New York Yankees. Similarly, colourful balaclavas supplemented an assortment of looks, which ranged from enormous layered dresses, jackets and sweaters to comparatively understated green suits. Despite all of the outré gear, monochrome looks occasionally broke up the runway, including a black skirt and jacket set dotted with silver buttons. Naturally, the styling played with proportions; it contrasted tiny shorts with boxy blazers, draped knee-length sweaters over baggy chinos and broke up a flowery ensemble with a strappy backpack.
Alessandro mined from pretty much every culture globally, from Sikh to South American indigenous culture, as well as nearly every time period. 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, Manga and Russ Meyer.
A look at the collection…
So, will the real world buy into this Gucci Fall 2018 collection? Would you buy this? Be sure to let us know in the ‘Rave Box’ below.
Photo credit: Indigital.tv
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