By Challenging the tropes of traditional masculinity has been the name of the game at Gucci since Alessandro Michele took over from Frida Giannini in 2014. His first show – A/W '15 – was cobbled together in less than a week and saw androgynous boys and girls waltzing languidly down the runway in pussy bow neckties, fluffy backless loafers and lace blouses. It was a seismic shift for the brand. One that was eyed warily at first, but soon sparked fanatical fandom. It also placed Gucci firmly in the centre of the fashion universe, a place it hadn't occupied for a few years. So monolithic has it become that light now bends around it.
The notes that accompanied the A/W ’20 show decried toxic masculinity in the strongest possible terms. “A dominant, winning, oppressive masculinity model is imposed on babies at birth,” it states. “Any possible reference to femininity is aggressively banned, as it is considered a threat against the complete affirmation of a masculine stereotype that allows no divergencies [sic].”
The collection, therefore, was designed to “celebrate a man who is free to practice self-determination, without social constraints, without authoritarian sanctions, without suffocating stereotypes.”
As to whether the clothes achieve this socio-idealistic goal, time will tell. But the gender-warping shapes, details and colours we now associate so inherently with Alessandro Michele’s Gucci were all on show. The first look alluded to what might be a new rockabilly vibe, with metallic silver flares and a whipped-over wet-look quiff on the model, but the tweed, pleats, browns, lace and general Seventies finery soon drifted in.
However, A/W '20 definitely felt grungier than the Gucci we have come to know, and at times it was decidedly Kurt Cobain. Plaid shirts, shaggy, moth-eaten knitwear, the odd stiff beret (seen loads of those, it’s a trend) and low-slung jeans, worn with cropped tees. The Nineties-ness was perhaps best typified by look six, but my favourite of the bunch was look 38, which helped illustrate another of the season’s key trends: that of the sexy college professor. Hear me out. The key components are a tumbled blazer, preferably brown corduroy, soft collar shirts, tattered jeans, beaten of loafers or lace ups. Maybe a scarf your mother knitted. Think louche, reluctant object of desire. Think Indiana Jones at his university post.
In a recent interview with the New York Times, Michele mused on his future, pondering a time when he will no longer be relevant, a time when he will no longer be in fashion, even. Who knows when that time will come, but the pure latter-day Gucci-ness of the latest menswear collection suggests nothing is broke, and nothing needs fixing. (Aside from the scourge of toxic masculinity, of course.)
