Still reeling from the abrupt announcement several months prior that creative majordomo Alessandro Michele would be stepping down, this month Gucci fans were treated to the Italian fashion house’s first runway show in a post-Michele world – one which, according to brand executives, embodied a kind of improvisation between the “multi-faceted creatives and craftsmen who inhabit [the brand]”.
Initially, fashion pundits had speculated that the proposed ‘improvisation’ Gucci’s management were eyeing involved onboarding a new up-and-coming designer for a single season – a nascent strategy that is already being adopted by competitor Louis Vuitton, who have tapped American designer Colm Dillane (KidSuper) to design their own Fall 2023 men’s show.
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But back to Milano. Considering the timing, it’s inevitable Michele would have had at least partial input on a number of the pieces that were sent down the runway earlier this January; and, as astute observers have pointed out, the first half of the Fall 2023 men’s presentation feels akin to a coda of his final days as creative head honcho at Gucci.
Early on, many of the silhouettes – ostensibly the work of Gucci’s own in-house designers – bore the unmistakable signature of Michele’s billowing, ‘grandma’s attic’ aesthetic. Yet the way in which these outfits – largely consisting of trousers, a tee and jacket – came together suggested a minimalist approach that might nod toward a newly austere direction at Gucci.
Other tributes to the brands former creative dictator abounded: including a handful of floor-length skirts cut right down the middle (evoking Michele’s long-running fascination with clothes that are somehow both masc and femme); and the fur-lined ‘Princetown’ slipper – one of the earliest signature items to put Gucci on its current course of widespread commercial appeal.
What followed in the show’s second half was a coterie of looks decidedly lighter on jackets and big, flared trousers – the real improvisational heart of Gucci’s Fall menswear. Less cohesive than the tailoring-heavy ensembles that preceded it, this part of the first Michele-free show was – for better or worse – still filled with individual pieces that many would consider a blast to wear.
A loosygoosy boiler suit emblazoned with the House’s iconic ‘double G’ or vests in puffed up pastels which suggest the brand’s existing excursions into apparel après–ski – these don’t come away feeling like part of a much grander design, but there’s no denying they’ll sell well once they hit the boutique floor. For now, that’s good enough.
