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nter Alessandro Michele’s office in the 16th-century palazzo (designed
by Raphael, no less) that is Gucci’s design headquarters 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 ofobjets, 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.
urprise 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 second 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
CAST IN STON ES
The first high jewellery collection dreamt up by Alessandro Michele has a
poetic power that is born of his passion for the past, discovers Rachel Garrahan.
Styled by Poppy Kain. Photographed by Paolo Roversi.
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