The first high jewellery collection dreamed up
by Alessandro Michele has a poetic power that is born of
his passion for the past, discovers Rachel Garrahan.
Photographs by Paolo Roversi. Styling by Poppy KainEnter Alessandro Michele’s office in the 16th-century
palazzo (designed by Raphael, no less) that is Gucci’s
design HQ in Rome, and you enter what he calls
the “beautiful confusion” of his creative universe.
Beneath soaring frescoed ceilings, reference books and fashion
magazines are piled on every surface alongside an eclectic
collection of objets, including tiny, elaborate 18th-century
women’s shoes, Mickey Mouse and Gremlin dolls, antique
vases and Persian rugs scattered across the vast stone floor.
The room is a multi-layered mash-up of past and present,
of history and pop culture – the same potent mix that has
characterised Gucci since Michele became creative director
in 2015 and turned it into the fashion powerhouse it is today.
It is perhaps no surprise that the designer was born and
brought up here in Rome. At the end of the cobbled street
that Gucci calls home is an ancient bridge, the Ponte
Sant’Angelo, built by Emperor Hadrian in the 2nd century,
adorned with 10 baroque marble angels by Bernini, added in
the 17th century. Rome wears its thousands of years of history
and influence in multiple, often contradictory layers, and the
same is true of Michele’s Gucci. The brand, which had revenuesof more than €8 billion in 2018, has tapped into the zeitgeist’s
maximalist view of fashion, which blurs gender, blends cultural
references, and values authenticity over conventional beauty.
The journey to success has not been without missteps. Earlier
this year, Gucci was accused of cultural insensitivity for a high-
collared black jumper that evoked blackface with its framing
of the wearer’s mouth in bright red. The brand quickly sought
to limit the damage by making lasting changes, such as hiring
global and regional directors for diversity and inclusion, and
setting up multicultural design scholarships at colleges around
the world, Lagos, Mexico City and New York included.
For a brand that has long embraced multiculturalism, the
blackface controversy seems an anomaly, and Michele himself
shows a sensitivity to the epoch in which he is creating. Even
his love of objects – he jokes that he does not understand the
word “bin” as we chat in his office, seated on an antique,
green velvet sofa that closely matches his gold-trimmed
smoking jacket – reflects an increasing rejection of throwaway
culture. “My house is like this – a sanctuary for things,” he
says, gesturing to the exquisite jumble. “They represent the
power of humanity: the things we make with our hands.” >MAGICALTHINKING08-19-Well-Gucci.indd 122 03/06/2019 12:10
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