This is a blue sky afternoon in Florence in July-a day that exudes optimism, possibility and... relief. Italy is the first Western country to be hit by the coronavirus pandemic. The businesses here are closed. Manufacturing stopped. People are blocked and only allowed to go out for necessary work. Thankfully, this list includes dog walking, and, as a newspaper pointed out, the Italian hounds are exhausted.
In a country of 60 million people, by the time I arrived, more than 125,000 people had died of COVID-19. But the worst seems to be over. The number of cases has declined; vaccines are being used. The city is open. Italians are once again tourists on their own land. You can also hear fragments of English and French accents, as well as fragments of Dutch in the square, and occasionally American flat-footed vowels.
The narrow streets of this city gleamed in the summer sun, and a low-key black minivan-Gucci sent me from the train station to the company archives to meet with creative director Alessandro Michel- Cross a bridge and cross the Arno River. It shuttles through a city that has the uncrowded postcard sheen of an earlier, less fanatical era.
Florence is the birthplace of Gucci, and Gucci was established there in 1921. Although the company has developed into a great global model, literally, Gucci's roots still exist. The archives were newly organized in a renovated 15th-century palace that was once the company’s factory. Before I talk to Michele, I want to visit-this is a way to remind myself of Gucci's past, so that I can better understand why it looks so perfect in the present.
Since Michelle became creative director about seven years ago, his series have fully expressed our identity: she/she, him/him, them/them. Gucci is Harlem and Haiti, Hampton and Hollywood, Republican and Democratic. These clothes challenge gender norms with very beautiful menswear. They subverted the definition of female beauty because it relies on youth; schoolgirls' dresses and "Golden Girls" gowns go hand in hand.
In the photo, if it were not for the weird personality and self-confidence of the models wearing these clothes, his clothes might look monotonous. Seen up close, silk is elegant and delicate, and knitted fabrics are as soft as feathers. Everything collides with everyone: skateboarders, animals in the conference room, rappers, charming beauties and iconic hounds. Gucci is not a reflection of the zeitgeist; it is the zeitgeist.
[Photographic prose: Gucci's ease and elegance]
Then in April, Gucci's aesthetic changed. The collection that Michele calls Aria is an example of the brand's continuous development. The aria reflects the healing relaxation between trauma and hope. Michelle proposed a vision that was quieter, more romantic, and less chaotic than he had long advocated. "Fashion must change because life is changing," Michelle said. His new series attracts attention with flashes and feathers, but at the same time does not ignore the affectionate need for ease, comfort and humanity during the global health crisis. The clothes are eclectic and there is no conscious weirdness. This is a huge change, because Michelle has always been the main propagator of open weirdness in the fashion industry. Magpie edited it himself.
"In the last show, Alessandro intended to create something different-I mean, I am not against what he did in the past-but to improve information and create more things this time," Gucci's Marco Bizzarri president and The CEO said, adding: "When you are experimenting, you need to continue experimenting."
Fashion is changing because life is changing. Aria makes me want to know more about Michele's thoughts. I want to know the direction of fashion development. If there is any brand capable of becoming a pioneer in the future, it is Gucci. Subverting the status quo is a model and part of Gucci's history. Gucci can already say: that's it. This is what you have been eager to buy; this is the aesthetic that perfectly expresses your mood, your self-consciousness. This is who we are at any given moment. "It's like the brand has retained its current soul," Michelle said.
This also happens to be Gucci's moment. The brand's cultural endurance and continued relevance are clearer than ever. The company is celebrating its 100th anniversary, and the ambition and betrayal of its founding family are the subject of Ridley Scott's film "The House of Gucci", which will be released this month and starring Lady Gaga and Adam Driver.
[The diversity of models is no longer just a matter of race and ethnicity, size and age. There is nothing. ]
At the worst of the epidemic, the fashion industry used quiet time to lament its own operating methods: the timetable of the catwalks is ruthless, the continuous launch of new series, and the world travel. Video conference calls and open letters are committed to promise change-slowing down and reducing production. Gucci is one of the few brands that has truly achieved logistics transformation. And because it is a multi-billion-dollar global entity, this vision and these changes may have a ripple effect.
So I came to Florence to talk to Michelle in the happy and calm of these turbulent times. Because looking closely at Gucci is like looking at the fashion industry itself from a long-term perspective. If Gucci sells anything, it is that fashion, culture, and business are not only capable of surviving changes, but also flourishing after changes.
The gentleman driver parked the minivan in front of the archives. And: this place. Oh my goodness. The environment is as magnificent as people think of a Florence palace. This elegant five-story building has elegant arched windows, soaring ceilings, stately stone pillars and remains of 17th-century frescoes. A Fiat 500-sized crystal chandelier is suspended in the center of the checkered painted ceiling of the conference room.
The ready-to-wear collection is protected by organza garment bags. The accessories are located in a custom glass showcase, with handles shaped like scissors. The entire shelf wall rolls back and forth along the brass track set on the floor. It is as if you have entered a brightly lit vault, where handbags are treated as gold bars. Or, considering that a python handbag from Gucci sells for $5,800, it may be more accurate to say that the bank treats gold bars as brand-name handbags.
There is even a jewelry box in the room dedicated to displaying unique fairy tales worn by celebrities such as Florence Welch. Each sparkling dress or dazzling cloak is hung on a dress, which stands upright in its own pink padded coffin. The design team visits regularly to show respect and draw inspiration.
Like many fashion companies of that era, Gucci did not preserve its complete history in real time. It must be reassembled. All in all, there are approximately 37,000 Gucci rare objects, relics and priceless cultural relics in the archives. They represent the arc of Gucci's story so far.
Guccio Gucci was born in 1881 into a Florentine family that made straw hats. He moved to London to look for opportunities and found a humble job at the Savoy Hotel. "He saw the wealthy class of Europe traveling with all these beautiful suitcases and suitcases. This gave him an idea that when he returned to Florence, he could make it for this wealthy European tourist class," "House Said Sara Forden, the author of the book. The Story of Gucci: The True Story of Murder, Madness, Charm and Greed," the family history of this movie.
The family soon opened a boutique in Via Condotti in Rome-after World War II, American soldiers returned home with Gucci trinkets. The company eventually opened a store in New York City, with the expansion led by Guccio's son Aldo. "He is the salesman at home," Foden said. "He realized that Americans wanted this prestige, so he started to make up these stories about how Gucci became the saddle of the nobility." But this is a marketing strategy. "They have nothing to do with the nobility. They come from Italy's humble, core manufacturing industry," she said.
The third-generation Maurizio Gucci tried to promote the image of the elite in the 1980s, hoping to portray Gucci into the Italian version of Hermes, but to no avail. But Gucci has integrated into American culture; it has to do with new wealth and the booming celebrity economy. This is related to the belief that hoi polloi can control their stories.
"In my opinion, the Gucci family invented this company in a very Italian way," Michele said. "French brands, they do reflect the monarchy to some extent. This company and this family truly embodies human creativity.... They really just design in a very free way. . That’s why they started working for jets and Hollywood stars because they are not so snob. They love the American people.” Gucci’s history is an amazing democracy and an amazing upstart. It welcomes visitors, and this affection is rewarded. "The United States accepted Gucci, and Gucci responded," said Emil Wilbekin, who served as editor-in-chief of Vibe magazine from 1999 to 2003.
In the course of a century, the company has repeatedly transformed itself, arguably more frequently and more successfully than any other modern luxury goods company. Balenciaga has made several influential changes, but it hasn't been so profitable. Most brands similar in size to Gucci have adopted a reliable simmering system, no matter who is at the helm: Chanel, Hermès. Their strength lies in their consistency: small terry jackets and black dresses with camellia; Birkin bags.
Gucci is angry, shocked and seduced. It has been remastered for Baby Boomers, Generation X and Millennials. In the early days, Gucci catered to jet airplanes and American celebrities, such as Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis (Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis). It dressed up the Studio 54 crowd in the heyday of disco and outfitted Gucci Gulch's DC lobbyist. In 1980, it even played some roles in the "Official Preparatory Student Handbook", and its loafers were listed as essential footwear.
At the end of the 20th century, after Gucci went public under the leadership of Tom Ford, the company's success fascinated Wall Street with fashion, when most design companies were still dominated by the family. Gucci loves hip-hop music, and many luxury brands feel uneasy when they think of these new black and brown customers.
"Gucci is good at leveraging the cultural zeitgeist. Other brands have surpassed it, or viewed celebrities as something they have to deal with," Wilbergin said. "Gucci, especially under the leadership of Tom Ford, really embraced hip-hop and hip-hop culture. When I go to Milan to participate in the menswear [fashion show], I will have a one-on-one communication with Tom Ford. He wants to know what's happening on the street What's wrong, understand the community's reaction to his work and what they wear.... The black community and the Latino community will accept what he is doing and remix it."
Over time, brand names have entered the dictionary to indicate specific iterations of cool. Becoming Gucci means everything goes smoothly and is under control. This is hard work and success, and to show off that success completely at ease. To commemorate the 100th anniversary of the brand, Michele tried to make a detailed statistics of all the songs that mentioned Gucci since its inception. His current estimate is 22,000; he pointed out, "When we try to fix this number, another song will appear." He attributed Gucci's strong performance in the music field to the brand's ability to deform. It is always telling a story of self-invention. Lineage doesn’t matter. "You don’t think Gucci is an old brand, wait, wait, wait. When you think about Gucci, you don’t think you’re rich. When you browse all the songs, they’re talking about a cool person ."
Michelle's friends call him Lalo-but the same is true for the young fans who found him on the street, and he will definitely stand out there. He is 48 years old, of medium build and childish. His dark brown hair is draped below his shoulders, sometimes braided. He has bushy eyebrows and a gray beard.
He tends to wear...everything. Unlike many fashion designers, Michel does not have simple everyday uniforms, no well-fitting plain T-shirts or well-cut black suits. His fingers are covered with signet rings, and he is wearing a weird T-shirt that looks like he was pulled from a trash can in a vintage store. The silk nightgown may have been borrowed from Jean Harlow's clothing closet. Here, dad jeans, sun hat, elegant shirt, and of course Gucci loafers. He is not a cautious master of puppet style behind the scenes. He is a souvenir, photos of David La Chapelle, Sistine Chapel, jazz improvisation, rap videos. He is his Gucci version of the Times Square billboard: Eclecticism and Egalitarianism.
Today, in the archives, Michel is wearing faded blue jeans, Gucci "Apocalyptic" sweatshirt, loafers and his personal collection of vintage diamond jewelry treasure chests. He smiled and greeted me. At least, I think he is smiling. His eyes must be smiling. We are all deceived because despite the vaccination requirements, Gucci is taking all precautions, especially using its creative capital.
Michelle started talking about Pope Francis and his popularity, and compared to before, there are now more tourists going to the Vatican for a pilgrimage to witness this holiness, and when they do, they will pass by Michelle Residential neighborhood of Rome. His home is near Piazza Navona, the iconic square dominated by Bernini's huge Fountain of the Four Rivers.
Michelle joked about how Pope Francis attracted tourists. The designer took a different approach. He put his thoughts in a footnote. "Francesco is a bit like a superstar. He is a kind of rock star. Yes, compared to others, a hippie rock star," Michelle told me. "I mean, I like him very much. I'm not a Catholic. I'm from a Catholic mom and kind, you know, a pious dad, but not a true Catholic. I like rituals, I like all of them, You know, sacred things. It’s a very fascinating thing.” He continued, “Francesco—this is a new way to become a pope, his way of life, he doesn’t want to live like a king in a super In the rich man’s palace. He is not a king."
"I always say that the Pope and Queen Elizabeth are the oldest and most powerful institutions of power in Europe," he explained. "The Catholic Church is very good in marketing. Thousands of years later, they are still on the stage." One can almost imagine a series from this idea-a reference to the church attire, the bright colors and traditions of the queen, and the hippies. The informality of loose limbs.
Michele studied at the Rome Academy of Fashion and Fashion, which is where he grew up. His father is a musician who loves nature and worked as a technician for Alitalia at Fiumicino Airport, and his mother is an assistant for a film production company. What Michele is attracted to fashion is not the noble creativity of Yves Saint Laurent or the technical expertise of Christian Dior, but the extraordinary charm and subversiveness of Gianni Versace-a designer who is also immersed in popular culture.
But he said that it was Michele's time at Fendi in the late 1990s that left the most important mark. "The environment is very inspiring. I have to say that I was in this amazing little studio in the center of Rome. In this room with a beautiful fireplace, there was a beautiful painted ceiling filled with books. It was like Ali Baba’s cave,” he recalled. "It's like a beautiful mess. This is still my way of working."
Michele is a chatterer who doesn't believe in hiding himself in mystery like some designers do. It can be said that Michelle entered this job through his way, which is just a bit exaggerated. He has the talent and follow-up actions to support his words, but his initial conversation with Bizzarri was not a job interview. Bizzarri is looking for information about the design office, and Michele is a long-term staff member of Gucci, and he has emerged in the team. Tom Ford hired him, and he stayed to work with Ford's successor Frida Giannini. After Michelle left suddenly in January 2015, Michelle was still there. He has been firm for nearly 13 years.
Michele and Bizzarri talked for a few hours at that meeting. Visually, they are opposites. Bizzarri's style is as simple as Michele's luxury. He is a tall and thin man with a clean shave and thick-rimmed glasses, most commonly in a black or gray suit and white shirt. But in Michelle, he found a creative person, a person who desires new things and has the same personality as him.
Michele's first Gucci collection was menswear-completed in just five days. He has not been appointed as creative director. He was just Giannini's deputy, and was given a creative challenge by Bizzari. The first model on the catwalk in January 2015 was a young man with flax hair, wearing a red bow-tie shirt and a ring on her finger. Fashion changed instantly. Nevertheless, when Bizzarri appointed Michelle to the top position a few days later, the fashion industry’s almost unanimous response was, “Who?”
"I tried to walk on the runway, you know, how beautiful it is to be the person you want to be. I try to experience fashion in a very free way. I try to care about individuality. Regarding differences," Michelle said of his work Shi said. "I tried to express the most hidden beauty and the things I like. At the time I might not see these things in the fashion world." He continued, "You know, it's like thinking that fashion is losing its soul, its diversity and Its ambiguity."
In the current fashion system, his nearly seven-year tenure as creative director is eternal. People hold that position for three or four years and then move on or pack. "If you want to get the soul of a place to live, you have to stay and go deep. I have been here since 2002, but I am in this position now-this is such a wonderful trip-because I have the opportunity to know this place very well," Michelle talked about Gucci. "If you want to interpret it in your own way-a brand or a place-you have to stay. You can't run away." He added, "It's like a relationship. You have to do it in a very profound way. To love to build a relationship. You can’t just stay for a while and leave."
For our tête-à-tête, Michel came to Florence from his design studio in Rome, where he worked on Fendi's beautiful chaotic version. There, light came in through the tall windows of a historic palace, illuminating the patchwork of colorful carpets on the floor. Upholstered chairs were scattered all over the floor, and pottery, statues and books filled a large table. The ceiling is attributed to a follower of Raphael. A large cream-colored suitcase-a suitcase reminiscent of the steam-powered ship era-embossed with Michel's initials. He told me that these objects were both his inspiration and his obsession. "Honestly, I have to say it's very beautiful. It's a gift. I mean, I'm not the kind of person who can say'um, good'. No. It's an incredible thing," Michelle said. "Everything is inspiration."
Before the pandemic, Michele would travel to Milan several times a year to participate in Gucci's large fashion show. The main fashion center of the country is there; this is where retailers buy goods and is where Bizzarri's office is located. Gucci is particularly prominent in Milan, because this dull city is full of business, and Gucci is a business miracle. The company's revenue has almost recovered to pre-pandemic levels in 2019, with sales in the first half of 2021 reaching nearly 4.5 billion euros ($5.2 billion)-most of which are in North America, although the growth is not as strong as it used to be.
But Florence is Gucci-ville. A kind of Gucci land. What used to be the Gucci Museum-a somewhat calm seasonal collection memorial-is now Gucci Garden. It is not a miracle of the botanical garden, but an amusement park worth showing on Instagram, an ode to Gucci fantasy. There is also an ambitious restaurant, supervised by a Michelin-starred chef, where you can order a 30-euro tortellini with cream sauce, it is so perfectly prepared that it makes you waste the name of God. Gucci's historical ambitions, marketing acumen, and myths are all concentrated in Florence.
Like every industry, after the pandemic closed, the fashion industry had to blaze a path forward. When the lights are turned off in factories and showrooms, many members of the public expressed the need to re-evaluate the relationship between fashion and customers, slow down, reduce production, and build a more friendly industry. Most optimistic thoughts quickly disappeared. Once the government once again allowed a fashion show with a live audience, the invitation disappeared. The waiter is always ready to fill up champagne glasses. Editors and retailers begin to accumulate frequent flyer miles. Once again, the industry is making a lot of things.
"In the beginning, I thought,'Gosh. In the end, I have time to relax. Then maybe, a month later, I thought,'OK, it's done. I'm relaxed," said 59-year-old Bizzarri. "I know I can slow down a bit, but in the end, I like what I do."
Gucci's new approach to fashion is unique, enough to stand out from the crowd. In its latest project called Vault, the main archive works are dusted for online sale-this adventure is mainly a frustration, as the Vault items are sold out in about a nanosecond. The company regularly hosts the work of new designers in stores and online, drawing attention to lesser-known and more diverse names.
Soon after the pandemic began, Michele posted a lengthy manifesto on Instagram as a preface. Michele freed the company from the exhausting fashion agenda tyranny that the entire industry hated. Even if it is made by itself. The Gucci collection is no longer marked with spring or autumn labels. They were just given a whimsical name, just like the newest child in a huge family. Michelle works according to his schedule.
The Spring 2022 fashion show in New York and Europe ended in early October, but Gucci launched the latest Love Parade in Hollywood this month, especially on Hollywood Boulevard, with the city as the background and the Walk of Fame as the runway. "I really want it to appear on the street, because everything in my life comes from the street. I get inspiration from the street," Michelle explained. "People who really live work on the street."
The event celebrates Gucci’s long-standing love for the United States and its celebrities. The company also sponsored the annual art film gala held at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. This year it will pay tribute to artists Amy Sherald and Kehinde Wiley and film producer Steven Spielberg. In these seven years, I have been deeply inspired by Los Angeles. This is a place that completely breaks the rules," Michelle said. "Many years ago, maybe 20 years ago, when I went to Los Angeles, I thought it was such an unfashionable city. But now I understand what fashion is: fashion is life."
"You can go to a very chic place for a cup of coffee, people go there, you will see crazy colors, crazy clothes-the way they try, the way they express themselves. I like the other part of Los Angeles is Old Hollywood , The idea of beauty and the invention of beauty," he said. "In Europe, in Italy, you have a lot of rules, the Catholic Church. In Los Angeles, I feel very free. I don’t feel connected. It’s not a city of monuments. It’s just about dreams.... Just like we change With the culture of ancient Greek and Roman gods, we once again started another dream in Los Angeles—that is, movie stars."
Michele's iteration of Gucci also continues to cultivate a relationship with hip-hop culture. For example, in the recent collaboration with Gucci Mane, he also intends to talk about the rising political and cultural power of the LGBTQ community. "He took advantage of this and it made the brand even more exciting," said Wilbekin, who founded Native Son, a media platform for black gay men. "The man in the bow-tie shirt is sexy." Gucci celebrates the variability of gender, even though some people struggle with the question of who can use which bathroom, as if the answer is a national security question.
Gucci's goodwill towards marginalized groups is likely to help it respond to higher cultural demands for greater diversity and inclusion. In 2017, when Gucci was accused of misappropriating Dapper Dan's work-Dapper Dan was a designer of customized luxury clothing for the elite of Harlem and the hip-hop world. He himself misappropriated Gucci's work for his own purposes in the 1980s. Trademark-the brand and him. When social media caused a storm with a sweater reminiscent of a black face, Gucci responded with a series of measures aimed at raising the voice of people of color. Gucci recovered from racially discriminatory mistakes that could permanently tar and dismiss the leadership of smaller companies.
"They see it as an opportunity," Wilbergin said of the controversy. Rather than critics asking if they can wear Gucci again, it is a more forgiving question: when? The answer seems to be: now.
In the luxury fashion ecosystem, Gucci is both a commercial giant and a creative giant. This is a listed company that can make people nervous. It drives culture with creative energy and economic strength. At present, Gucci is pushing us towards a more popular and open place. A place where we can write our own stories-or at least believe that it is still possible.
"The ability you have to reinvent yourself is so huge, so huge, and so direct. It's addictive to some extent. So you want to do it every time. For me, it's part of being this company. The beauty of being a fanatic," Bizzarri said. "You can have a worldwide impact."
Robin Givhan is a senior critic on politics, race, and art in The Washington Post. Previously, she regarded the fashion industry as a business, a cultural institution, and a pure pleasure. She will discuss the story with Rhonda K. Garelick, a writer for creator questions, at 11 AM on November 23, and have a conversation on the cover. Register on washpostmaglive.com.