Photos from Vogue.com, collage made by me.
My Gucci review is here! Unlike how I do my other fashion week reviews, where I select four to seven (ish) shows from each week to review, Milan Fashion Week is a bit different—I'm always only interested in reviewing Gucci. This favoritism started when I did my first ever show review master post, where I selected a few shows from each week in September of 2015 (SS16, if you were curious), but I only chose to review Gucci for the MFW section. Ever since, they've been the only ones who have actually caught my eye during this week. Alessandro Michele is just that talented!!! While it has remained my favorite fashion house since, well, September of 2015, they just keep getting better! It started with more then became more is more and now we're at more is more is more, or you could argue, because Michele has been designing for them for five seasons now, that more is more is more is more is more this season. Does that make sense?
Alessandro Michele won't stop his maximalist attitude with clothes—with each passing collection, he adds more accessories, more prints, more jewelry, more oomph, more wow factor. And he does it so artistically! It's kind of like that challenge where you have to put on all of your clothes at once, but minus the awkward marshmallow vibe that results from 20 sweaters layered together at the same time.
As for my Wes Anderson comment, I'm not kidding in the slightest bit--Wes wouldn't only appreciate the aesthetics Alessandro played with in his Fall 2017 collection, but the director would file suit for copyright infringement of his infamous characters. Let's start from the beginning of his films (leaving out Bottle Rocket, insert sad face because that movie doesn't get any love):
No khakis or tie were included, but if you replace those pants with velvet pantaloons and that tie with a jewel-encrusted collar and long pussybow, the Gucci'd version of Max Fischer from Rushmore comes to life. May be a bit of a stretch, but that lion emblem on the model's belt definitely matches up with the Rushmore crest on Max's blazer. Even the glasses match! And we all know that Fischer would be one to wear floral socks with pumps (fight gender norms!). Also, doesn't that braided-headband thing (??) sort of resemble Max's coonskin cap?
Richie Tenebaum has always been one of my favorite characters in the Wes Anderson world—I blame it on my secret love for Luke Wilson and his really cool outfit. That '70s-esque camel suit and striped sweat band create a look that only The Royal Tenenbaums fans would immediately recognize, but now Gucci fans will, too, with an almost exact replica of the look, except now Gucci's version has the traditional Gucci Stripe™ embellishing the bland suit and grandpa glasses (these are very in) to replace Richie's full beard. The Gucci model is even wearing sneakers, as if he were ready to play tennis just like Richie! It's like Alessandro literally had to ask Wes to borrow these inspirations; that's how exact the match is. And that leads me to two important questions: a) is this considered stealing or just drawing from inspiration? And b) which came first: the Gucci Stripe™, or the stripes seen on Richie's sweat band?
Look, it's Chaz Tennenbaum from The Royal Tenenbaums. This one's obvious—replace the red Adidas tracksuit with a red zip-up jumpsuit. A.k.a. the Gucci version of a tracksuit, because they would never include this on the runway, unless they're jewel-encrusted track pants peeking out of a long camel coat, shown below:
Although this is a stretch, how could I pass up on the infamous Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou red hat, even if the rest of the Gucci outfit doesn't resemble the crew's outfits? There are some similarities, though—the uniformity of the Gucci jacquard suit is seen in the monochrome blue crew uniform. Replace the Adidas sneakers with half-shin socks and Renaissance style shoes, and now Ned Plimpton works for Gucci instead of his father.
It's Owen Wilson again! But in The Darjeeling Limited, wearing a suit and bandages instead of a hat and ship uniform. Gucci updated the neutral suit and lei the Whitman brothers don on their trip to India by combining the two—you guessed it, a floral-printed suit. Instead of having a Victorian floral print that we usually see in Gucci, this print seems to perfectly match the flowers seen on their trip through India. Those snakeskin boots remind me of the scenes representing some of the barren land of India:
Some food for thought: how cool would this Gucci girl look with a Darjeeling-esque suitcase?
Mrs. Fox from Fantastic Mr. Fox was definitely seen on the Gucci runway—this Gucci girl is literally wearing a fox mask, something we haven't seen in fashion, well, ever. Also, Mrs. Fox always had #outfitgoals, and Gucci is just emphasizing that with those super cool sheer floral sleeves (tights for your arms?) and pussybow sateen dress featuring some sort of aquatic creature. The connection between the fox and the aquatic creature? Unknown.
Suzy from Moonrise Kingdom grew up! This seems to be one of the more popular Wes Anderson-themed halloween costumes, next to Margot Tennenbaum, and Gucci finally transformed this costume into reality, switching soft gingham to brocade and embellishing her classic white collar and cuffs with jeweled black swirls. White socks remain a constant, but replace the saddle shoes with grown up heels (Stoker, anyone?) and those binoculars with that peculiar wand-looking-object that makes our most favorite coming-of-age character, well, not in her coming-of-age phase anymore. Very bittersweet.
No Gucci looks directly represented any characters from Grand Budapest Hotel, the most recent Anderson film, but some represented the scenery that seems to be even more important than those character's #ootds. That model on the left, wearing a pastel pink coat encrusted with jewels and black swirls matches the impossible-to-miss color scheme of the hotel; the model in the middle represents (you guessed it!) the snow on the trees. Too much of a reach? I still bet Wes Anderson would approve. Grown-up Agatha (Saoirse Ronan's character) would definitely wear the pink coat during the winter months in Budapest, and maybe even the monstrous white gown at a ball.
Here are some other looks I loved:
Vogue called Michele an alchemist due to his ability to transform an ordinary girl into a Gucci Girl™, but I also want to call him a Renaissance man (pun intended) due to his ability to practically achieve everything—his collections are far more than fashion collections, they're displays of art, of beauty, of craft. And possibly direct displays of Wes Anderson's films. Now that's talent.
NYFW Fall 2017 reviews | LFW Fall 2017 reviews
See all of my show reviews from previous seasons here.
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