A New Chapter: Gucci Menswear AW15 collection
updated the 6 October 2015 à 23:22
No one bats an eyelid when menswear-inspired looks appear on womenswear runways but when the tables are turned, it’s a whole other story. At Milan Menswear shows, here’s Gucci’s first collection without Frida Giannini.
The menswear shows at Milan Fashion Week are going in full swing and trust us, we’ve been busy burying ourselves in runway images to find the most inspiring and conversation-worthy collection. For now we have Gucci to tide us through.
After 10 impressive years at Gucci, this menswear collection was meant to be creative director, Frida Giannini’s last bow. However, instead of taking that well-deserved applause, she exited from the brand a little earlier than planned leaving the Florentine label to scramble and recreate a collection from scratch in a matter of five days – this has to go down in fashion history.
Ultimately, what went down the runway were designs done by head accessories designer, Alessandro Michele and a enthusiastic team of young designers. Worn by both male and female models, the largely androgynous collection featured chiffon pussy bow blouses, sheer lace tops, peter pan collars, flared sleeves, billowy trousers and even a too-snug-to-fit jacket.
Gender lines were definitively blurred in a showdown of what was set to be a turning point for Gucci. Essentially, the design team took a risk and presented a quirky, youthful, slightly tongue-in-cheek line up that may actually be slightly more relevant for today’s audience.
Despite being an Italian brand, we also saw references to a couple of quintessentially French styles. A fur-trimmed cape represented how an artist would dress sitting behind an easel, ribboned shirts were akin to school uniforms or what a poet would wear and some of the models sported berets with skinny scarves – touche.
Certainly, it was a far cry from Giannini’s previous collections – no iconography, no jet-set lifestyle – so perhaps this is the label’s way of distancing itself from their predecessor as quickly as possible by crafting a whole new image. There’s still no news as to who will take over the gilded throne though but just to throw a conspiracy out there, the melancholic soundtrack played at Gucci was from Tom Ford’s movie, A Single Man.
Let the suspicions roll in.
Tarandip Kaur
