Vogue India June 2019

164

lessandro Michele’s

office at the Gucci

Hub in Milan resem-

bles one of the many

iterations of Auntie

Mame’s Beekman

Place drawingroom.

It’s a stylish retreat

decoratedinhissig-

nature neo-Roman-

tic style, with Napo-

leon III chairs and

lacquered furniture

ring rugs and terra-

s, all of it embowered

er of flowersand the

exotic birds that the designer—in an

echoofhishippiefather—callshisspir-

it animals.

“For me, it’s quite empty,”Michele

notes drily. “Milanis more of a work-

ing place.”

Theidiosyncraticsittingroomnestles

in a LEED Gold-certified complex

carved from the workshopsof the 1915

Caproni aeronautical factory into a

35,000sqm behemoth that is a testa-

ment not only to the brand’sstrength

and ambitions—Gucci enjoyed 45 per

cent sales growthin 2017, with US$7.1

billion in annual sales, and has doubled

itsrevenueduringthepastfouryears—

but to its creativedirector’ssingularly

potent aesthetic. The staff canteen

looks like a Belle Epoquecafé, with its

ebonizedmahoganybar, crimsonsofas,

and tall damask-and-toile-covered

screens,just as Gucci fragrance coun-

ters aroundthe world resemble 19th-

century apothecaryshops. The Hub’s

cavernousreceptionareas, meanwhile,

are decoratedwith tufted velvet bornes

and more of Michele’sbelovedantique

Aubussonrugs, which also manageto

lend the brand’sinternationaloutposts

thequirkylookoftheRomanantiquar-

ian shops that the designer likes to

scour for jewels and objects of curiosity

tofillhisportfolioofproperties.

AlthoughMicheleand his 90-some-

thing-strongdesign team are based in

thedesigner’snativeRomeinthesplen-

didPalazzoAlberini(said to have been

conceivedby Raphael),many of them

decampto Milan leadingup to the col-

lection. “I would love to stay in one

place,” Michelesays, “but the studio is

in your brain, it’s in your suitcase,be-

causewearealwaystravelling.”

InhisdaysasadesigneratFendiand

Gucci, Micheleused to sketch so much

that he says he now has pains in his

backandneckfromcrouchingoverand

drawing.Todayhekeepsendlesslistsin

notebooks and works “on the body,

draping and taking pictures. I don’t

have the time to sketch accurately,”he

explains,“becauseafterfouryearsIun-

derstoodthat I neededto be more con-

centratedon the creativityand the pro-

cess: the stories that I’m telling, the

experienceof the clients in the store,

thecollection,theshow—themusic,the

atmosphere.I spend a lot of time work-

ing on it all. I’m trying to be less obses-

sive,” he adds, “but that is really hard

foradesigner—thereareamillionpiec-

es.InthebeginningIwascheckingeve-

rything,but we are a huge company,

and after two years I was dying. It’s a

beautiful job, but it’s dangerous be-

WHERE

THE WILD

THINGS

ARE

Sincearrivingat Gucci,AlessandroMichele has

turnedusontohismagicallysurrealvisionof

fashion.Foralltheflightsoffancy,though,he’s

designingfortoday’sworld.ByHamish Bowles

PhotographedbyTIERNEYGEARON

AlessandroMichele,

overlookingSullivan

CanyonParkin LosAngeles

SITTINGS

EDITOR:

LAWREN

HOWELL.

HAIR:

CAILE

NOBLE.

MAKEUP:

GEOFFREY

RODRIGUEZ