Alessandro Michele - Designer, Creative Director of Valentino

[conspicuousconsumer]

Poor Cristóbal rolling faster in his grave than he already was, can’t even rest in peace with these fools damaging his legacy even more.
The world of fashion has gone mad. A hollow shell of the magnificent glitttering spirit that was sacrificed to the tasteless poor masses and the vulgar rich conglomerates.

 

[dior_couture1245]

It’s this kind of thinking that will destroy whatever is left of fashion.

Obviously everyone involved thinks this is something “new,” “interesting,” “clever,” “fresh,” “innovative....” or whatever, and will be received by the audience as such....

It is so far from any of those things. I can barely comprehend how mind-numbingly asinine it actually is.

 

[eugenius]

^^I’m sure the ladies who lunched in head-to-toe couture during “the golden age” probably thought the exact same thing when RTW started rearing it’s ugly little head into high-fashion.

 

[bc collector]

I’m sure the ladies who lunched in head-to-toe couture during “the golden age” probably thought the exact same thing when RTW started rearing it’s ugly little head into high-fashion.

Interesting observation. I often wondered that myself and I partially agree with you.
Except that: back when YSL introduced Rive Gauche he could afford to go against the rules of taste of the establishment because, back then, there still was an establishment to go against. He was an independent designer rebelling against la bourgeoisie and its etiquette. On the opposite spectrum, in 1968 Cristobal Balenciaga acknowledged that the world was going in such a direction that there would be no space anymore for his kind of clothes. And decided accordingly.
I don't see now such epic, seismic changes in motion now. There is very little political level in the debate (except the whole gender-fluid aesthetic, with all its inherent weakness), everything is just an enormous marketing stunt covering up a substantial lack of new ideas.
I don't object to the Gucci-Balenciaga operation for their lack of taste (although there is that element too), I object to their lack of novelty, it seems something sprung out from the manual "Co-branding for Dummies". It is soooo not new in itself as to make me wonder, like many here, how far can the suits go in transforming the whole fashion world in a huge Fuccbois' paradise.

 

[Phuel]

^^^ Not quite the same as RTW offending the elitist ladies-who-lunch. Not even in the same dimension/plane/universe LOOOL

A more apt comparison would be the outright greediest blatantly becoming even more greedier: Kering is literally Mr. Burns attempting to block out the sun so he can charge Springfield’s denizens for… sunlight. Even more offensive than a greedy cartoon conglomerate attempting to sell sunlight— is a greedy conglomerate selling overpriced mockeries of high fashion without a lick of construction/skills/quality in their designs. Gucci and Balenciaga are already a far cry and cheap mockery of their once glorious selves: They literally resemble caricature “designers” that would fit right in on The Simpsons. There’s nothing left to be destroyed LOL Let them butcher their already rotten corpses with logos/monograms on sad oversized blazers on skid row models and silly Orphan Annie dresses on males.

 

[conspicuousconsumer]

Just to run off the main topic a little longer. We’re the Ladies Who Lunch really all that offended though when RTW really took off? The real old Haute Couture clients from the 1920s and 1930s definitely would be just like when the aristocrats had to begin sharing their tailors with rich businessmen. But Nan Kempner, Lynn Wyatt and several others just loved fashion as a whole wearing couture and ready to wear. So I don’t think they were elitist in the sense of what the French thought of the aristocracy during the revolution. Nothing wrong with being somewhat elitist anyways. Look what appealing to uncultured masses has done to fashion. Elitism... “is like a splash of bad taste. We all need a splash of bad taste...” Trying to be funny and probably failing miserably.

 

[Phuel]

^^^ They likely weren’t offended.

Just for argument’s sake, let’s say that some were a tad annoyed that the designer that were dressing them, now also were also willing to dress ladies that maybe didn’t lunch with them. A more realistic comparison would be Gaultier and when he collaborated with Target. Or any of the H&M/Uniqlo collabs. On thatt level, I’m not the least “offended”— I’m just not interested at all.

This Gucci x Balenciaga collab is more like when really popular rappers collab: It’s just a money grab and to have another No. 1 single on Billboard for bragging rights. It’s soulless corporate greed at its most obnoxious.

 

[eugenius]

You're missing my point.

My point is: this doesn’t mean the destruction of whatever’s left of fashion, not any more so than the couture clients (and designers) of yesteryear who thought that the RTW signaled an end to haute couture.

BTW, Kering is figuratively, not literally, Mr. Burns, as Mr. Burns is a completely fictional character.

 

[conspicuousconsumer]

^ I don’t think I’ve missed the point. I just disagree with it. Where as I feel and think that when RTW first took off there was still a great deal of creativity involved in it, there was a dignity to it still that carried over from the haute couture or tailoring. Not to say their isn’t creativity now but it’s a different feel and to me it feels less than. The general look in people’s head of what a Chanel girl or a Gucci girl or a Dior girl wore was presented by the shape and style of the garments not by the endless display of logos on every surface.
I will say instead of the word destruction, I will use the word diminish to describe what I feel is a result of this collaboration but the collaboration itself is not the only thing to garner this. To add anecdotal incidents to the matter, I know plenty of individuals who 15 years ago would spend most of their time shopping on Madison Avenue or take trips to Paris to just go shopping. Several of those now spend their time actually learning to sew clothes, one has taken a class at the Ecole Lesage to learn embroidery, or they find more local tailors to make a suit from scratch or they buy vintage. The general consensus among them is there just isn’t anything on the runways worth going crazy over to rush to the stores to buy. I also tend to disagree with these friends/colleagues because as Michale Gross who was paraphrasing Carrie Donovan (I believe) once said...”there is always something to like...even if it’s a shoe.” But perhaps that is just my industry brainwashing...I mean training.
So the conclusion after my rambling is that I think the collaboration diminishes these stories brands (one more than the other). But perhaps I will be a convert to modern ideals upon release...I doubt it though.

 

[jeanclaude]

All that hype to make "Gucci X Balenciaga" logo t-shirts...

 

[Phuel]

^ I don’t think I’ve missed the point. I just disagree with it. Where as I feel and think that when RTW first took off there was still a great deal of creativity involved in it, there was a dignity to it still that carried over from the haute couture or tailoring. Not to say their isn’t creativity now but it’s a different feel and to me it feels less than. The general look in people’s head of what a Chanel girl or a Gucci girl or a Dior girl wore was presented by the shape and style of the garments not by the endless display of logos on every surface.
I will say instead of the word destruction, I will use the word diminish to describe what I feel is a result of this collaboration but the collaboration itself is not the only thing to garner this. To add anecdotal incidents to the matter, I know plenty of individuals who 15 years ago would spend most of their time shopping on Madison Avenue or take trips to Paris to just go shopping. Several of those now spend their time actually learning to sew clothes, one has taken a class at the Ecole Lesage to learn embroidery, or they find more local tailors to make a suit from scratch or they buy vintage. The general consensus among them is there just isn’t anything on the runways worth going crazy over to rush to the stores to buy. I also tend to disagree with these friends/colleagues because as Michale Gross who was paraphrasing Carrie Donovan (I believe) once said...”there is always something to like...even if it’s a shoe.” But perhaps that is just my industry brainwashing...I mean training.
So the conclusion after my rambling is that I think the collaboration diminishes these stories brands (one more than the other). But perhaps I will be a convert to modern ideals upon release...I doubt it though.

Absolutely. There was a sense of creative progression with the craft of fashion when RTW debuted: It was a revolution in high fashion. There is not a hint or effort of any creative progression with what Gucci and Balenciaga have become— unless one believes trolling/mockery is progression.

And I admired what Demna was doing at Balencaiga when he debuted there. I believe he’s talented— unfortunately now, rather than progress his craft and his original vision of fashion, he’s completely given into the marketing/gimmick of fashion now. You know, he’s someone that ’s too easily pressured into a certain direction and shown to lack artistic integrity. I really admired how pro-Georgian/Eastern European his sensibility and aesthetic was during his debut: His designs and Lotta's styling, although you can easily catch their references, was fresh for the time. Then he was criticized for lacking racial diversity in his cast, and he gave into the demands immediately (likely at the insistence of the Kering handlers). And this changed his aesthetic from the severe, cold, post-Communist optics of his early-Balenciaga to this diverse, skid row motley crew trolling fashion. The former vision was high fashion, and the current branding has become a mockery of fashion.

 

[JohannesL]

All that hype to make "Gucci X Balenciaga" logo t-shirts...

It will be named “Gucciaga", and maybe next time MGC and PPP can have a hybrid "Diorentino". LOL, fashion is dead!

 

[Teratel]

Gucci Teaming up with Balenciaga for Next Collection: Market Reports

According to Italian market reports, creative director Alessandro Michele collaborated with Balenciaga (which is also owned by Kering) and its creative director, Demna Gvasalia on Gucci’s newest collection. The Kering-owned Italian luxury brand is set to reveal the collection, called Aria, through a series of short films on Thursday, April 15. The collection will be Gucci’s first in 2021, its centennial year.
Neither brand has commented on the report.

businessoffashion.com​

Choreography by Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui

 

[Frederic01]

Looks like Gucci is back to doing Cruise shows and back to the normal schedule of shows for this year.

Gucci to Stage Coed Fashion Show in May
Luisa Zargani / Wed, January 26, 2022, 4:01 PM

MILAN — Gucci is planning not one but two collections in the first half of the year.

While confirming its coed show will take place during Milan Fashion Week next month, the Italian brand has earmarked May 16 for another men’s and women’s show to be held in Europe. The location has not been determined yet and the name of the collection is still under wraps.

Last November, discussing his recognition by the British Fashion Council with the Trailblazer Award, creative director Alessandro Michele told WWD that Gucci was eyeing two additional runway shows, in late spring and in September.

While brands traditionally show their cruise or resort collections during the months of May and June, Michele in 2020 decided to abandon “the worn-out ritual of seasonalities and shows to regain a new cadence, closer to my expressive call.”

Forgoing “inherited vocabulary terms that were born in other moments,” Michele conceived new names for Gucci’s collections, inspired by the music world. “I felt the need to change names of the shows. I want to use words and terms borrowed from classical music, which offer the possibility of opening new horizons,” he said.

In July of that year, Gucci presented what would have traditionally been called a cruise collection, but Michele renamed Epilogue, explaining at the time that he wanted to “overturn things” and present a story with the people from his office instead of models, a project that included a 12-hour livestream.

Last April, the designer staged the Aria show, which celebrated the brand’s centenary and introduced the Balenciaga hacker project. This was followed in November by the Love Parade collection in Los Angeles, which paid tribute to Hollywood and the world of movies.

The brand’s last show during Milan Fashion Week dates back to February 2020 to present the fall 2020 women’s collection.

The designer’s career spans over some 26 years, and before taking on his current role in 2015, there were “rigid rules that never changed” in fashion when it came to presenting the collections, he said in November.

During the pandemic, change became “necessary when we were all in silence, imprisoned at home, discovering a different life, and I felt nature calling,” Michele said.

WWD

 

[vogue28]

Harry Styles has done a collaboration with Michele for a men’s Gucci capsule collection:

 

[KoV]

calling it "Gucci HA HA HA" was certainly a choice

 

[SophiaVB]

In a research note earlier this week, Bernstein observed that consumers who were once excited by Alessandro Michele’s reinvention of the label are now experiencing “brand fatigue from ‘more of the same.’” The new Gucci is still a work in progress; Kering did drop some hints at its capital markets day, with executives saying the brand’s future will include plenty of leather goods and ultra-expensive clothes targeted at under-30 customers.

For Luxury Brands, ‘More of the Same’ Doesn’t Cut It Anymore

From reading Kering's June presentation on Gucci, it looks like they are planning to focus much more on growing the North & South American markets and focusing more on mens/resort + upselling leather goods & RTW. I feel like Alessandro's schtick has just gotten very tired and saturated on the market and generally feels like an excess of product. I'm not sure if their mens collections leaning very gender neutral is going to work well with older and more traditional clients. Something like Celine or YSL where there's more structured suiting options mixed with younger streetwear/unisex pieces feels better merchandised for a wider demographic.

 

[kasper!]

Gucci has set-up a new postion named Design Studio Director which is responsible for main collection. Their organizational construction has spilt into 2 ways- fashion collection and main collection. Obviously François Pinault and other shareholders are unhappy currently....

Pretty much the same like LV. All the clothes on the runway must be ordered right after runway. You can not walk in and say I want to buy runway look 32.....Stores are full of monogram clothes. Always denim jackets and Tees...che pazzo!

 

[susseinmcswanny]

So now we're officially going from couture as the marketing for RTW to RTW as the marketing for overpriced merch. Bye

 

[Salvatore]

Interesting. It’s perhaps time for Alessandro Michele to go as I don’t believe he has anything new to offer. Maybe instead of going to Versace, they should look into Tisci if they want someone with a name although I am sure there is an undiscovered talent waiting in the wings for their chance.