Robbie Williams’ new self-titled Netflix documentary series promises that it’s going to be “raw, honest, real”, and there’s nothing more unvarnished than the singer reliving all that old footage of himself, dressed in just a black vest and pants, from his bed.
“I’m a hermit,” Robbie explains in the film. “If I’m not on stage, I’m in bed.” Fair enough, really – why shouldn’t he get cosy while mining the trauma that was brought about by stratospheric global fame? He deserved a break.
But there are several points where even he needs to take a break from discussing his ancient hatred for Gary Barlow, or the time he had a two-hour panic attack while onstage at a gig. “It’s a tough watch reliving that again,” he says about half way through the first episode. It’s at this point where he walks over to his closet, and pulls out a cardigan to wrap himself in.
Robbie’s comfort blanket of a cardigan is an oversized v-neck white cable-knit number from Gucci – so far, so Beckham. But as he pads around his multi-million pound LA mansion, we get a better look at it: cuffs and collar hemmed with red and green stripes; a felt applique ‘A’ on the chest and sleeves, while on the back under the word GUCCY, an acorn branch motif encasing a giant roaring tiger.
Turns out, it's actually from the brand's womenswear collection – the work of previous Gucci creative director, Alessandro Michele, who was a big fan of tigers, and often incorporated them into his designs for the Italian fashion house; what the storied fashion house referred to as "an expression of the House's fascination with the wild beauty of the natural world.” This particular cardigan – from the Resort '18 collection that was sold for around £3,300, at the time – will have spoken to Robbie too, as tigers are something of a spirit animal for the singer.
Back in the Y2K Rock DJ video, before he rips off his own flesh, he strips down to a pair of black pants (his underwear style consistent to the present day, it appears), emblazoned with a tiger. Presumably he owns multiple pairs, as more recent stage performances have seen him prance around in them even now.
And in 2019, Robbie wrote a song called Hey Tiger! for the animation adaptation of Judith’s Kerr’s The Tiger Who Came To Tea. In promotional interviews around the cartoon, he said: “The tiger is a huge, wonderful, magical character because he’s so powerful and mischievous,” with a knowing affinity that would suggest he feels the same about himself.
While you’ll be hard pressed to get your hands on that exact fuzzy feline knitwear now (resale sites are your best bet) Gucci has carried on this motif throughout other pieces – tiger wallpaper or tiger goblet, anyone? Or there’s similar tiger-less versions of the cardigan currently on sale for £1,100, but if you're looking for stripy big cats to emblazon your wardrobe, Kenzo and Amiri have more pocket-friendly options.
