Ever since being appointed as the creative director of Gucci, Alessandro Michele has brought in a thought-provoking vision to the brand. His idea of being relevant to the present time and soaking in the reality of the world speaks volumes for the luxury brand mogul. The global standstill that this world has come to has given us 3 things to do: pause, reflect and act. And that’s what Gucci’s creative director has done. He reflected from his abode in Rome, Italy—one of the worst-hit countries by this godforsaken virus. His reflections were made public via a series of short chapters from his journal by the company’s Instagram handle. Alessandro Michele’s message through those chapters was that Gucci was no longer meeting 4 times a year.
..in my own small way, I feel the urgent need to change a lot of things in the way I work. I have always been professionally inclined to change, after all, bringing with me a natural and joyful creative restlessness. But this crisis has somehow amplified such transformative urgency, which can’t be deferred anymore.
He wrote in his diary—something that can’t be stressed enough. Not a shock to many, but the fashion industry is the second largest industry polluting planet earth.
Alessandro Michele’s take on Gucci‘s future in a corona-free world:
The COVID-19 crisis has crippled the fashion industry like never before and cancelled fashion weeks around the world. Milan Fashion Week was scheduled to take place in September now looks highly unlikely to action. But even so, Alessandro Michele went onto describing fashion weeks as “stale and underfed”. Gucci previously showcased at 4 seasons: Cruise, Pre-Fall, Fall/Winter and Spring/Summer, but will now only showcase twice a year. Michele announced in a virtual conference with a few editors, that his next collection will be titled ‘Epilogue’, which will be showcased at Milan Digital Fashion Week this July 17.
The reason behind this drastic move is an ideal amalgamation of environmental factors and the creative process. According to him, clothes must have a longer life than the ‘seasonal’ words ascribed to them. And as for his take on fashion’s impact on nature, he boldly called us all out. For the most part, it is something we can all agree on. He said:
We conceived of ourselves as separated from nature. We felt cunning and almighty. We usurped nature, we dominated and wounded it.
Gucci‘s announcement came weeks after Kering‘s Saint Laurent decided to leave the fashion calendar behind. What does this mean for the fashion industry you ask? A gradual but a major step towards a more sustainable future led by two luxury giants.
We hope that the fashion industry from top to bottom shifts towards more organic strategies. What are your thoughts on this? Tell us in the comments below!
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