Let’s play a little game. Diamond-studded cat-eye glasses. A straw hat. Oversized bow chokers. And a patchwork sweater featuring the ultimate tabby cat. Where are you standing? It just so happens you’ve taken a front seat at Gucci’s 2017 Cruise Collection runway show in Westminster Abbey.
In the church that bore witness to Kate Middleton and Prince Williams nuptials in 2011, Gucci-designer Alessandro Michelle debuted his eclectic old-world aesthetic. Neither a hemline nor neckline erred in the hallowed hall, as Michele’s collection displayed a wealth of high-collar frill and to-the-knee checkered skirts. The clear celebration of England’s history of fashion wow-ed the crowd and left the designer beaming, but let’s see it’s your cup of tea. Hmm?
Where to start on this look, which seems to mix every fabric they sell at Mood. The rainbow palette striped sweater features a posied tabby cat. This sweater is paired with a yellow-checkered skirt patched with an English Staffordshire dog. Between the laced tights and red-buckled boots, this ensemble could make you quite dizzy.
“I really love the English aesthetic and it’s something that belongs to my language…English culture is in a way very close to my beautiful chaos,” the designer informs WWD backstage at the event. Beautiful chaos is exactly the way we’d describe this next look in Michele’s collection.
Recycling the updated school-girl skirt from the previous look, Michele pairs this piece with a loud and proud sweater knitted in the fashion of the British flag. A hankerchief and tinted aviators round out this piece’s punkish, yet refined look.
Christmas came early with this ensemble as the model appears a perfectly packaged English treasure. And we can tell why. We don’t even want to know what the retail would be on those chandelier earrings. The frilled coat, gem-studded brooch and old-school aviators seem to modernize the likings of your grandmother’s closet. Those earrings, however, came with the inheritance.
We told you there was a straw hat involved. The 1900s-replica boater hat is paired with diamond-studded cat-eye glasses. A high frilled collar with a tassled bow and brooch juxtapose the almost-futuristic fabric of the metallic coat. Although still puff-sleeved and frill-lined, the coat’s wave-like shimmer transports this look into the 21st century.
As other designers seek a look never before seen by the fashionable eye, Michele’s collection praises fashion’s triumphs through the past. By giving homage to those differing styles, he presents a unified chaos for the new age.
