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Thanks to the appearance of a certain expectant couple (Rihanna and A$AP Rocky, in case you weren’t on the internet this weekend), you’d be forgiven for thinking that Gucci’s Fall Winter 2022 was simply a red carpet event for Rih and her burgeoning baby bump. But the A-list celebrity attendance was only the beginning of the story for creative director Alessandro Michele’s triumphant return to the runway, riddled with equal parts glamour and melodrama. Atply titled ‘Exquisite Gucci’, the FW ‘22 show was debuted on a mirrored runway that created a kaleidoscope of colour and texture, punctuated with the incessant flash of paparazzi cameras (Serena Williams, Jared Leto, Jodie Turner Smith and Normal People star Daisy Edgar Jones were among the other FROW attendees).
Michele explained his fascination with mirrors in the collection’s notes, writing that clothes are “capable of reflecting our image in an expanded and transfigured dimension.” That may sound like the kind of rhetoric that tech-enthusiasts are using to hype up the metaverse, but these clothes were clearly crafted for real-life wear. The show opened with a fabulous slouchy men’s suit in navy, paired with oversized gold statement earrings and transparent rockstar sunglasses. It set the tone for a collection that married Michele’s signature genderfluid eclecticism with utilitarian wardrobe staples. The suit appeared throughout, with contrasting ‘70s-style lapels, or finished in electric blue corduroy with sporty stripes (more on that later), or in sleek black velvet embroidered with giant gold bee motifs.
Elsewhere the ‘borrowed from grandma’ aesthetic that made Michele an overnight fashion sensation when he first debuted at Gucci in 2015 was on full display: berets worn with oversized knit cardigans; huge (faux) fur coats with a bralette and lacey fishnet stockings; pinstripe shirting with kitschy floral jackets. It’s a style sensibility that feels totally in tune with the current fashion moment: a time where a free-thinking ‘anything goes’ approach to dressing is taking over TikTok and the streets of the world’s most stylish cities. With thrift shopping on the rise and a generational shift away from gender-coded clothes, Michele proved just how far ahead of the pack his taste has always been.
Runway-wise, the biggest talking point was the unveiling of a Gucci x Adidas collaboration, which blended classic Gucci tailoring with sportswear staples from the Adidas archive. Michele was reportedly inspired by an old image of Madonna from the ‘90s, in which she wore a streetwear-style dress by Laura Whitcomb. That combination of high-fashion and streetwear was groundbreaking at the time, and Michele attempted to capture that newness with high-necked Victorian-style silk gowns, embroidered with the Adidas stripes and trefoil, as well as sports suits made of delicate crochet knitting, and oversized plaid suits cut into sporty shapes along the body.
