Vogue India June 2019

167

PHOTO:

TYLER

MITCHELL;

GREG

SWALES.

HAIR:

NEAL

FARINAH.

MAKEUP:

SIR

JOHN/MARC

JACOBS

BEAUTY.

SET

DESIGN:

DAVID

WHITE

insideyourstudio—youhavetobecon-

nectedtotheworld.I’mlearninga lot.

Beinginchargeof a brandlikeGucciis

reallyanunbelievablepositionin terms

ofresponsibility—somanypeopleand

expectationsareinvestedinit.”

As Michele has discovered, though,

those responsibilities extend beyond

thelivelihoodsof thecompany’s18,000

employees. When hesent out his fall

2018-19 collection,one ofthe layered

looksfeatureda woolbalaclavathatdis-

quietingly echoed historically racist

blackfacestereotypes.Theireof theall-

seeinginternetwasquicklyignited,and

Gucci collaborator Dapper Dan, the

In the wake of the

furore, MarcoBizzarri

travelledtoNewYork

tomeetwithDanand

fellow community

leadersinHarlem,and

asa result,Gucci has

initiateda comprehen-

sivediversityinitiative

in hiring, along with

company-wide educa-

tion programmes and

international design-

school scholarships.

“Attheend,”Michele

says,“youcanjust do

better.”

HisrapportwithBiz-

zarri is palpable. Last

fall,Michelecalledthe

Guccichief—astrongadvocateforsus-

tainability in fashion in his previous

roleasCEOofBottegaVenetaaswell

asearlieratGucci—todiscussa no-fur

policy.A weeklater,it wasimplement-

ed.Michelecreditstherelentlessadvo-

cacyof hisyoungteam—andhisfriend

JaredLeto—withinspiringhimto act.

“Ilovecraftsmanship,”saysMichele,

whoearlierinhiscareerabsorbedthe

sophisticated techniques ofthe Fendi

furriers. “I’m crazy for the beautiful

thingsyoucandowithyourhands,soI

tryto putallthesethingsintootherma-

terials—nothingis justlost.”

For this collection, forinstance, he

usedthoseskillsonfakefursandwith

otherfabricstosuggestthevolumeof

realfurs,inspiredbytheItaliancraft-

speoplewho hadto beinventivewith

theirhomegrownresourceswhenMus-

soliniclosedItaly tosomeforeignim-

ports.“Theabsenceofsomethingfora

creative person is really interesting,”

saysMichele.“Whenyoulookat1940s

Italianjewels,youseea lotof greatsolu-

tionsin termsofdesign—they’revery

modernandcontemporarypieces,even

withoutstones.”

Michelehimselfhasanevidentpas-

sionforintriguingjewels.Todayheis

garlanded with early-19th-century

necklaces and braceletsincorporating

cameosorcarvedlava-stoneportraitsof

Greekphilosophers orexoticanimals,

and rings on every finger. Almosthid-

denbyhisshirtcollar,meanwhile,is a

Georgiancameo necklace,anelement

inan elaborateparure. “Myaesthetic

philosophyis an unin-

terruptedflow:Thereis

nodistinctionbetween

oldandnewthings,but

thereareonlybeautiful

things,” says Michele,

whohasbeenknownto

reusebelovedprintsin

several collections,

challenging fashion’s

built-inredundancy.

Hisacquisitivestreak

extendsfarbeyondper-

sonal adornments: He

oncemaintaineda sec-

ond apartment simply

tocontainthespoilsof

hispassionforantique

picturesandbibelots—

“those funny chic

things,liketoys,”asheoncedescribed

them to me—including a remarkable

collectionof historicshoes.Andhe’llbe

maintaininghiscurrentapartmentfor

muchthesamepurposewhenhefinally

movesintohisnewhousein thecityfol-

lowing an extensive restoration pro-

gramme. This magnificent place—

carvedfroma storiedBaroquepalazzo

literallybuiltfora pope—willfeaturea

dedicated room for Michele’s clothes

thatis justaboutthesizeof hispresent

home.(ToMichele’sdelight,thesensi-

tive renovation has already unveiled

historicfrescoeshiddenundercenturies

of subsequentpaintjobs.)

Hehasbeenonsomethingofa real

estate spree lately.In Civita, theRe-

naissancehilltopvillageinViterbothat

Micheledescribesas“averyeccentric

placeforveryeccentricpeople,”heand

Attili maintainthe charming, Lillipu-

tianvillagehouseperchedatopa ver-

tiginous cliff face where Michele

mapped out his debut Gucci collec-

tions—but they’ve acquired a second

propertythere so that they can finally

havefriendsto staynearby.

Later,aftertheshow,hewaxesphilo-

sophical.“It’ssomethingthat’salivefor

20 days,” hesays of the intensity of

workingona collection.“Afterthat,it’s

ontothenext.Buttheprocessof crea-

tivityisa verymysteriousvoice—and

it’ssomethingthatyoucan’tstop.”

“Youcan’tbeclosedinsideyourstu-

dio,”saysMicheleofdesigningtoday.

“You have to be connected to the

world.”n

iconicHarlemtailor,calledthecompa-

ny out for “getting it outrageously

wrong.”AndthoughMicheleexplained

atthetimethathisspecificinfluencefor

themaskwastheworkof theanarchic

’80s club guru, designer andwalking

piece ofartLeighBowery,hequickly

beganto takeownershipof thewideris-

sueof thelackof diversityinhisimme-

diatedesignteam—andintheluxury-

fashionindustryasa whole.

“Atthe endI seeeverythingmore

clearly, butI ignored something that

needed visibility. I don’twant to say

again that it was not conscious—al-

though it was not—but I was more

shockedbythefactthatweweresoig-

norantintermsof history.”

“It’sa beautiful

job,butit’s

dangerous

becauseit’s

something

thatcantake

everything

fromyou...

Youreally need

tobe hereto

fighteveryday”

Beyoncé, USVogue,

September 2018