Mask Off

As Alessandro Michele Toys With The Idea Of Masks And Personas On The Season’s Runway, We In Turn Cast Our Eyes On The Identity And Universe He’s Built For Gucci.

- Andrea Sim

In less than five years as Gucci’s creative director, Alessandro Michele, has checked all boxes on paper. The bags, high on the wish lists of many, are what you would classify as It bags. The footwear, as Gucci’s single-handed mule revolution is testament to, are trendsetting. The clothes, akin to the wardrobe of a nomadic, history buff with sportswear tendencies, incite chatter — whether it’s on the red carpet or a red-eye flight. Heck, according to the Lyst Index, Gucci ranks as the second most popular brand in the world for online shoppers at press time, coming in just behind Off-White. But there’s one thing that is possibly a stroke of genius above all: the brand’s identity.

Like the Renaissance art Michele is known to reference, the universe he’s masterminded is one where mythology coexists with reality (see: any Guccicommissioned Ignasi Monreal mural), beauty is celebrated in diversity (Gucci Beauty launched its lipstick line on traditionally less conventional faces like punk musician Dani Miller), and dress codes are pretty much genderless (Jared Leto wears dresses! Gucci dresses!). When Lil Pump raps “Gucci gang, Gucci gang, Gucci gang, Gucci gang,” Harry Styles in a sheer, lace-trimmed blouse, nips and tatts on show, now springs to mind. Leto is there too, in a floor-sweeping red gown and bejewelled harness.