Gucci arrived at Paris Fashion Week with a show at the storied nightclub Le Palace. As the sun set in the City of Light, the theater filled with Gucci’s famous friends, members of the press, and buyers all ready to take in creative director Alessandro Michele’s show. Below are the eight talking points.
1. The Gucci Gang Was There, Totally Gucci-fied
Alessandro Michele travels with a crowd of loyal, exuberant Gucci fans. At last night’s show, Faye Dunaway posed with SoKo, while Jared Leto chatted with Salma Hayek Pinault. Gucci Bloom fragrance campaign star Hari Nef was in attendance alongside Japanese pop idol Naomi Watanabe and K-pop star Kai, who caused a mob scene outside.
2. An Experimental Theater Duo Inspired the Staging
Gucci Spring 2019 RTW. Indigital
Michele doesn’t do traditional show notes. Instead, he provided guests with a biography on Italian actors and experimental theater artists Leo de Berardinis and Perla Peragallo. Not familiar? The notes described De Berardinis and Peragallo as the Dioscuri of the experimental Italian theater scene, crediting their “theater of contradiction” as a reference for the collection and a means to “create nostalgia for another life.” I Dioscuri was written in neon lights outside the show, a reference to the Greek legend of Castor and Pollux. Consider it a meditation on duality, godliness, and perhaps death. The twins, basis of the Gemini constellation, were part of an ancient Greek Eleusinian ritual. In a nod to duality, models walked down the aisles in twos, uniting together on a spotlit stage.
3. Mickey Mouse Was Transformed Into 3-D Bags
Gucci Spring 2019 RTW. Indigital
There were, in fact, heads on the runway, although they were more clearly fake. A collaboration with Disney birthed a series of sculptural Mickey Mouse head bags in black and white leather. Mouseketeers, take note.
4. Dolly Parton Got Her Due
Michele is a known music lover, and one of the stars of this season’s show was Dolly Parton. Some models wore Parton-esque cowboy hats, while a number of pieces were printed with Parton’s image.
5. Jane Birkin Provided a Soulful Interlude
The show was staged in two parts; in between, Jane Birkin stood from her seat and sang to the delight of guests. “Baby Alone in Babylone,” written for Birkin by Serge Gainsbourg in 1983, was her song of choice.
6. Can a Live Cockatoo Upstage Jane Birkin?
Gucci Spring 2019 RTW. Indigital
The second section of the show opened with model Mae Lapres walking down the aisles with a real live cockatoo on her shoulder. The cockatoo’s name is Kiki.
7. “When Pigs Fly” Becomes a Literal Motif
Gucci Spring 2019 RTW. Indigital
Perhaps as a response to Gucci’s fanciful collections, Michele took the saying “when pigs fly” literally this season, creating glittering winged pig embellishments for dresses and blazers. Call it a look for the haters.
8. Michele Bows in His Yankees Cap
Gucci Spring 2019 RTW. Indigital
Myths, legends, and creatures aside, Michele remains loyal to his New York Yankees baseball cap, which he has worn for almost every bow during his Gucci tenure. His, of course, is a Gucci-branded collaboration with the New York sports team.
