Gucci Love Parade: An Ode to Hollywood
This past Tuesday, Gucci shut down the entirety of Hollywood Boulevard in Los Angeles, California for the continuation of their centennial anniversary celebrations which began earlier this year. The night called for a fashion show, in-person and with no budget limit in sight. With the Grauman’s Chinese Theater in the background, the L.A. strip was transformed into fashion’s latest performance piece. According to Alessandro Michele, creative director of the house, the show was nicknamed the Gucci Love Parade and was inspired by both Hollywood, and the designer’s mother, who worked as an assistant to a production company. “It’s a place I love, there are elements that are close to me and my heart. This city is an inspiration,” he told Vogue.
The show was a star-studded, celebrity-infused event with the fashion industry coming out in full force to witness and partake in Michele’s first show in America since 2015. Director-style seats were lined up and down the boulevard and decorated with classic Gucci-logo-mania. The front rows were packed with both friends of the house and fashion spectators, as they took their seats and waited for the show to start right after the Gucci-sponsored, 10th LACMA Art and Film Gala.
Miley Cyrus, Billie Eilish, Dakota Johnson, Sienna Miller, Tracee Ellis Ross, Lizzo, Dapper Dan and many more were all on hand to support the designer, given that they have built up years of rapport with Alessandro. Gwyneth Paltrow provided us with one of the most talked-about fashion moments of the night, even though it happened off the catwalk. She arrived at the show wearing a recent recreation of her Ruby-red women’s suit that she wore to the 1996 VMA’s. The original suit was created by Tom Ford during his tenure at the house, but the suit was referenced by Michele recently during the Gucci ARIA collection, a collaboration between the house and fellow Kering-mate, Balenciaga.
Once the audience took their seats, they were ready to see Hollywood glamour through the eyes of Michele. 115 models walked down the wide stretch of street, portraying references made to La La Land; whether it be the location or the ideas at large.
The clothes themselves seemed to be the least exciting aspect of the night, something that isn’t a rare occurrence when having to compete with a spectacle of such grandeur. While there were some looks that still have the fashion critics talking, many of the ideas were repetitive. When creating a show with so many different garments and combinations, it is common for themes to repeat, a talent that Michele should have mastered by now since his shows are always of elephantine proportions. But there must be a line drawn in the sand, or on Hollywood Boulevard, between build-up and redundancy. Eight separate plaid 3-piece-suits seems to be excessive and it begins to border textile waste, a huge issue already present in the fashion industry.
Another major theme throughout the show was the use of sex toys. Sometimes the toys were presented as accessories in the shape of a necklace or an embellishment to a garment, while other times they were just given to the models to hold. Although slightly misplaced, sex seemed to play a small role in this collection and the use of such a modern cultural, and once taboo, reference does show us the evolution of the Gucci customer. Historically, Gucci leans toward a more conservative consumer—so this was refreshing.
There were many familiar faces on the runway as well, such as Jodie Turner Smith and Macaulay Culkin, a name that got everyone excited as they watched him walk down the boulevard in a satin bomber jacket layered over a printed button-down shirt and trousers. Jared Leto was also spotted on the runway, which is very common for Gucci, given that the house and the star have had connections since Leto wore a green Gucci coat to a Suicide Squad premiere in 2016.
The most conversation-worthy looks all paid homage to famous Hollywood icons, which is fitting given the setting they were presented in. Twitter user @2mayaz did the research and compiled a heavy Twitter thread talking about the references Michele used in the show. Although some of these could be just speculation according to Maya, the resemblance seems uncanny.
Maya spoke about multiple homages, sometimes to Hollywood stars and other times to iconic movie characters, such as Bette Davis in Dark Victory (1939). The catwalk was overflowing with Hollywood inspiration that was clearly on Michele’s mood-board: Shirley McClain in What a Way to Go (1964), Uma Thurman in Kill Bill (2003), Jim Carrey in Ace Ventura: Pet Detective (1994), Jean Harlow in Dinner at Eight (1933) and Elizabeth Taylor in Cleopatra (1963), to name a few.
It’s clear that Michele was going for a nostalgic feel with this show, and that he is a major movie buff. But there was still an air of modernity to the collection that tied it all together as best as it could.
“My Hollywood is in the streets,” said Michele about the inspiration for the show, “LA is not a fashion city, but it’s so fashionable, […] sometimes they are not appropriate, but in being not appropriate they are so precise. Maybe it belongs to my way of looking at fashion—it’s personal.” This could hint to him explaining the raunchy streak painted onto the show. From underlying themes of patent leather and lace to the obvious placements of sex toys, the collection had one thumb placed on the new, and one on the old.
As Gucci gets the Hollywood treatment with the release of House of Gucci starring Lady Gaga and Jared Leto, of course, it was an interesting experience to see Hollywood itself through the eyes of Alessandro Michele.
The century-long reign of Gucci has been full of ups and downs, and love and hate, but Alessandro seems to be steering the house in the right direction as they now begin their second century of luxury.