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Philosophy is a tool and the clothes the end goal, at least he is looking for meanings in his work that connects him to his life and obsession.
I honestly prefer when designers have other interests, keeping them secret or making them known, it's their freedom and privilege: tbf the designers who are solely into fashion can be quite shallow sometimes, and it may reflect on their designs too. And they don't last in the circuit.
milanofinanza.it/Alessandro Michele’s philosophy of fashion
«Critical thinking has guided me throughout my journey since my first runway show for Gucci in 2015», the designer explains at the Turin book fair. There, he presents his literary debut a year and a half after parting ways with Gucci. Among his earliest fashion memories, he mentions a dress by Valentino Garavani. How are you preparing for your first runway show with Valentino? «First of all, I live...»
«How do I prepare for my first runway show with Valentino? First of all, I live...». This is how Alessandro Michele dodges the question that everyone would like to ask him during his first public appearance, a year and a half after leaving Gucci.
The designer is attending the Turin book fair as a guest for his literary debut, a journey at the intersection of fashion and philosophy, which he openly confesses to being passionate about. As the MFF journalist, patiently awaiting her turn to have her copy signed, asks him about his vision for Valentino, where he recently assumed the role of creative director less than two months ago, he replies, «I do not know yet. Valentino has an impressive archive; it is truly an extraordinary place».
The Roman designer makes a subtle comeback in the media, co-authoring a book about the philosophy of fashion with Emanuele Coccia, one of the most esteemed contemporary philosophers. «Right from the start, I thought that philosophy was the language closest to fashion, and from then on, it became the language of everything I did», he explained in a talk moderated by Daria Bignardi. The designer is welcomed and celebrated by a large audience of admirers, many of whom are very young and proudly showcase the accessories and garments he created for Gucci.
La vita delle forme. Filosofia del reincanto retraces Alessandro Michele’s remarkable career, aiming to unveil the profound essence of fashion. From his first encounter with clothing, his mother’s evening dress, to his tenure as creative director at Gucci. It is a journey into the personal and professional life of the designer, who shares the pivotal moments that have shaped his soul and defined his aesthetic. Alessandro Michele will officially return to the fashion spotlight in september, assuming the creative leadership of Maison Valentino, succeeding Pierpaolo Piccioli.
In September, you will officially return to the fashion spotlight at the helm of Maison Valentino. How are you preparing?
First of all, I live. This is a time for deep reflection. It is all about staying grounded and finding inspiration in simple things. And I am buying more books; I think they are incredibly powerful.
In your book, you mention that one of your earliest memories related to fashion is of your mother’s evening dress, probably a piece by Valentino Garavani. Will you take inspiration from it for your designs?
Maybe, I do not know yet. Valentino has an impressive archive; it is truly an extraordinary place.
How did your interest in philosophy develop?
When I was trying to define my own style, I struggled to find my own language. I could not quite explain what I was doing. That is when my partner, who is deeply passionate about philosophy, started reading passages to me that sparked inspiration. Right from the start, I thought that philosophy was the language closest to fashion, and from then on, it became the language of everything I did.
The book retraces your career, including your debut runway show for Gucci in 2015...
Before 2015, there was a strong focus on marketing; a lot of time was spent on the product, and items lost their intrinsic value. Philosophy guided me through this journey; I adopted it as my language. In my first press release, there was hardly any mention of fashion. However, it was the essence of everything I did.
Today, it is normal to see a guy wearing a shirt with a bow, lilies of the valley in their hair, and sandals on their feet. It was you who introduced this aesthetic to the world...
I work by observing, and to me, the things I did seemed entirely natural. In fact, it seemed strange to me that the fashion world was not acknowledging the significant transformations it had undergone over the years. Following the show, people started talking about the concept of gender fluidity, but I had never heard that word before.
And it was a revolution...
I talked about beauty; I felt it was a beautiful way to narrate the essence of humanity and the different elements that make it up, including clothing. Even with models, I aim to create characters rather than uniform them. The universe is full of diversity, it thrives on diversity, and without such variety, perhaps life would not even exist. This, I believe, is the only language that truly brings things to life.
You co-authored the book «La vita delle forme. Filosofia del reincanto» with Emanuele Coccia. How did you two meet?
I listened to one of his podcasts. Then I had the opportunity to meet him face-to-face and have meaningful conversations with him. Through these interactions, we found that we had many things in common.
And where did the idea of the book come from?
It all happened quite naturally. Our encounter was like magic, a meeting of lives; it was not just an editorial meeting. Our conversations started during the pandemic, and we talked frequently for a year before we began the writing process. The book is a piece of life; it is as if we discovered a way to express what we see and feel.
It is a treatise on the philosophy of fashion. What is your personal relationship with fashion?
I approach it in a fluid and open way, though it is often misinterpreted by many. Through this book, I wanted to reconnect fashion with bodies, which ultimately represent lives and emotions. Clothing holds such an intimate relationship with our lives that it cannot be explained in a simplistic or reductionist manner.
Do you see things that others do not?
I am not sure. Let’s say we simply exist, which is one of the most fascinating things. I am passionate about humanity; I feel and see things, and I approach my work in a personal and intense way. At 51, I feel a sense of freedom, which heightens my senses. Ultimately, it is a form of exercise; I do not think it is a gift, but being able to practice it is certainly a gift.
Where does this freedom come from?
I believe that in life, you only get one shot, and I have approached things with a deep sense of awareness and sincerity. Everything in my life, including this book, has happened in a natural way. I cannot help but be true to myself, and since my work is an extension of who I am, I have done it and continue to do it with immense passion, sincerity, and dedication.
Lol, this is ridiculous
:-) his press release for show always was filled with philosophical idea´s & approacht this in direct counter balance with his child like curiosities which often resulted him in braken rules of what is deemed normal beauty standards etc more of a case of why not then a overthought intelectual idea to push boundaries
i feel on this forum we for sure dable also in the ideal of what fashion is or should be etc that is philosophy as well
Michele has opened this side of him a couple of times, actually. His show notes, for example. I just think it's interesting that people probably did't noticed it because he don't seem to be making "intellectual fashion" (whatever that is).
fashion has brilliant theorists, even fashion historians (like laver, steele or boucher) explore very interesting sociological concepts, fashion outsiders like barthes, simmel and veblen (the last two are from the 19th century when fashion wasn't the beast that it is today but lol) also tried to apply metholodies and concepts from their areas to explain fashion.
There are a few. I need to get deeper into it. But what I meant exactly by theorist is that insider person who makes or uses a conceptual apparatus to think about what they do (or what others do). The books about fashion have this sociological, historical bent which is different from architecture books that in my view are mostly formalist, analytical and written by insiders.
He's also renovated an old Italian mansion, so the hammer might be linked to that.
VOGUE RUNWAYAlessandro Michele And Emanuele Coccia Get Philosophical About Fashion: “Clothes Aren’t Only Artefacts, They’re Hallways To A Different Reality”
BY TIZIANA CARDINI
5 June 2024
Whoever thinks that philosophers are shabby dressers with no sense of style, and that fashion designers are egotistical illiterates only worried about the length of hems, better think again. Emanuele Coccia, the academic sensation whose bold thinking has made philosophy sexy, and Alessandro Michele, whose equally provocative practice has invigorated the discourse around gender well beyond fashion, are both telling examples of how inaccurate such assumptions are. Coccia’s style is as flamboyant as his speculative musings, while Michele has an erudite, esoteric way with words. In a sort of twinning radicality, they have partnered in the writing of a book, The Life of Forms – Theory of the Re-enchantment. Published by HarperCollins (for now only in Italian, with an English translation coming next autumn), it’s a deep dive into the unexpectedly magical liaison between philosophy and fashion.
The book was presented by the authors at Milan’s Teatro Franco Parenti to a full house last Friday, marking the first public appearance by Michele since he left Gucci in 2022. Conceived and written during the lockdown, the tome is a cogitation on the principles that have underpinned the designer’s influential praxis. The absence of images or photographs is conspicuous: “While the book has become a reflection about fashion along the way, ultimately it’s about so many other things,” Michele said. Divided into seven stanzas (philosophy, ambiguity, animism, design, collections, Hollywood, twins), the book is structured as a philosophical conversation, with sections “recalling the Talmud or the Bible.” It’s capped off by a final part reprising the scholarly press notes Michele wrote with his partner Giovanni Attili for the 22 shows he staged during his tenure at Gucci, from 2015 to 2022.
While we await for Alessandro’s much anticipated debut at Valentino in September, I met with the two savants (a sort of two-headed hydra with considerable intellectual bandwidth – a rather intimidating task, really). Our conversation touched on clothes as a sort of portal to different dimensions, why words and good writing matter, and, yes, what Michele is making of his new place of business.
How did this book come about?
Emanuele Coccia: It happened quite naturally after Alessandro and I were introduced by his partner Giovanni Attili. We immediately connected, we recognised ourselves in each other’s words. I have taught history of fashion [Coccia is a professor at Paris’s EHESS, École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales], and fashion is a sort of obsession for me. Alessandro is the first designer whose shows were accompanied by short philosophical texts, underlining the possibility for fashion to be actually narrated through philosophy. The book’s content is somehow consequential to how he has approached his fashion shows. I believe that fashion is the art that allows life to take its form, and therefore is the privileged subject of philosophy.
Alessandro Michele: As Emanuele said, there was never a planned project for the book. It just happened. The book hasn’t been conceived as a sort of remedy for today’s state of fashion; nor was it meant to be written as a treatise to explain how fashion and clothes are of the essence to tell us how alive we are. It has been dictated by a peaceful urge to give voice to a common passion, a conversation we wanted to have. For me, it has been a gift in the path I’m going through. And because it was written during the lockdown, it was also a company, a way of reflecting on the meaning of things. I wasn’t working at that time, work had taken a distance from me. In the book, we’ve tried to explain the reasons why I do things the way I do, a rather mysterious thing to analyse.
Philosophy and fashion are two disciplines that have never truly acknowledged each other, as they seem to be entities with quite opposite raisons d’être.
AM: I’m not a philosopher, so I’m in a rather privileged position in that it gives me more freedom to be curious. I’ve never studied it in school, I’ve come across it growing up, through life, and I’ve found it close to the practice and language of psychoanalysis. It’s an extraordinary medium: transparent, airy, oxygenating, a pair of glasses to see the world more clearly. And I’ve seen my work through it in a sharper way. Philosophy is perfectly suited to adhere to everything that’s human. For me, it has been a state of grace to discover a way to narrate something so mysterious but at the same time so easy, as philosophy can unravel knots, it can liberate narratives on the intensity of life. Fashion has often been marginalised, so I make philosophy and fashion go hand in hand. Like children, they seem to be best friends. I’ve never seen two things so perfect for each other, they seem to be the missing part of one another.
In the book you say that “philosophy seems to be naturally attracted by fashion,” which actually seems rather counterintuitive.
EC: Alessandro’s gesture of explaining his shows via philosophical press notes has been historically rather meaningful, as if he were saying: Look, to read fashion we have to overturn the idea of hostility or dislike between fashion and thought. Alessandro often says that clothes are the form through which you manifest your being alive. When we think, we’re trying to give shape to our being alive. For centuries the so-called Minor Arts – and fashion has been always considered one of them – have been marginalised. Today, designers and couturiers seem to have embraced the concept that making clothes is actually a form of culture – not only haute couture but haute culture.
The book is actually a dense discourse on fashion, with pensées such as “There’s nothing more free than fashion”, and “Fashion is the most radical art form of our time,” just to quote two. Can you expand on that?
AM: Fashion is radical, because it happens quickly and sharply. Everything else takes lengthy processes to happen and manifest; fashion is reactive. When we want to say something strong and immediate, fashion is the most potent of languages, and it reaches and touches everyone. It can build walls, it opens up conversations, moves emotions and thoughts; it can also be dangerous, socially subversive. Fashion has changed the idea of, “Who am I?”, and it has somehow changed art as well. There’s this misconception about clothes, because they’re merch, they’re sold and bought, while the body is considered purer. So art has worked with the body and not with clothes, because clothes are dangerous, they convey so many messages; fashion can be uncomfortable and it has to stay well confined in its corner. This is just the confirmation of how potent fashion can be. Fashion is extremely seductive: It’s like an addiction, it’s so alive, it belongs to anyone. It’s so close to our skin, it cannot be separated from the wearer.
EC: Fashion is universal, we can think of lives that never touch on art, or poetry, or painting, but everyone has to be clothed, regardless of geography, social status or gender. Art releases a distant gratification, a contemplative enjoyment, you’re in front of an artwork that makes you keep a distance; paradoxically and au contraire, fashion is as if you were in front of a Picasso and you decide to put it on yourself, and this is not an ostentatious act, rather it’s performative, it’s something transformative. Fashion gives people enormous freedom; when they say that fashion activates conformism, it’s just a silly assumption, because if fashion is commercial and full of zillions of sellable options, then it’s only you who have the power to decide what to buy, what to wear in the morning, and this act opens up an abyss of freedom, that sometimes can be also utterly distressing. For me, the most telling example of the freedom fashion gives you is the fitting room; you can desire and choose a beautiful outfit that in the end doesn’t suit you at all, it’s like a door that slams on you. Through clothes we’ve come to understand that we cannot be only what our anatomy has dictated, and this is fashion’s greatest promise of freedom. Clothes can give us a sort of additional body, and fashion is probably the only art form suggesting that our only way is transformation. You cannot avoid speaking out through what you’re wearing.
Alessandro, you’ve often said that we’re the Frankensteins of our lives.
AM: Clothes aren’t only artefacts, rather they’re doors, vessels, hallways that lead us to a different reality: denser, richer, more ambiguous than we could inhabit if they weren’t there. Sometimes your life changes because you encounter certain clothes by chance. I like the idea of the hallway because it isn’t a room, but rather a passage, a path that you don’t know where it leads. It’s that specific dress that makes decisions together with you and makes you discover things you didn’t know existed. As Emanuele said, art is also a way to walk that hallway, but there’s always a distance that clothes do not allow to happen. Art and fashion today seem to be closer, but I’m not interested when art pervades fashion preposterously; it seems a sort of act of desperation to me. I like when the language of fashion is rotund, when clothes narrate their own language in a potent way, while using art as a sort of “higher” justification seems like putting fashion in intensive care.
John Waters once said, “If you go home with somebody and they don’t have books, don’t f*ck them.” Yet books today seem not to be on the cool radar, especially books on fashion, even if fashion is a universal language where opinions seem to be substitutes for critique.
EC: Fashion has existed and manifested through multiple media – shows, exhibitions, photography and also words – but before Alessandro, I must say that press notes in general were like bad photographs of the collections they were describing. The language of fashion has been reduced to something rather flat and banal. The work of a visual artist, Anselm Kiefer or Philippe Parreno, for example, could never be described as “light,” “soft,” “fresh,” “youthful”… perhaps it’s also because big fashion brands have helped culture stay separate from fashion, financing art foundations where fashion is never exhibited. If you think about it, it’s a way of saying that ultimately fashion is just business.
AM: The use of words in fashion has been kept within the perimeters culture has allowed fashion to inhabit. I’m happy that people today talk and write about fashion, even when there are mannerisms or distortions… it’s good to open the window and let in some fresh air, some oxygen. Today, fashion has become a free animal again, even if they’re trying to shut the doors and this moment is foggy and rather dark. There are banks of fog out there.
Speaking about fogs and hallways, you’ve just entered Valentino’s hallway, which seems to be much more fabulous than foggy, is it not?
AM: It’s a state of grace! Archives seem places where the past is frozen, but not at Valentino – they’re full of life. Perhaps I’m a sort of dowser, I seem to have the ability to make things speak, so I’m in great company there. There’s no hint of dusty melancholy or nostalgia of the past, it’s a hyper-vital place – walking through it I feel blessed by the Gods, it’s like having got your hands on a treasure, a treasure of life. That place is life itself. And Valentino means a name, an actual person who has narrated his life through beautiful clothes, everything he did he did through the clothes he created. Clothes were his language, and what he did it’s so potent that it’s still a place full of presences and voices. I’m in its present now; I’m watching and almost spying, like a voyeur. The place is alive, and talking, full of gorgeous objects and clothes that still seem to be inhabited by the bodies who wore them, and when you meet them it’s like meeting the women for which they’ve been created. It’s heaven on earth. An extraordinary experience. It’s like I have found the Eldorado.
