Alessandro Michele Says Goodbye to Gucci

25.11.2022, 14:41 fashionmagazine.com

Some are shocked. Others aren’t. Either way, the news that Alessandro Michele is leaving Gucci is rocking the fashion world. And in a week that also saw Raf Simons shutting his label, that world had already been knocked off its axis. Michele arrived at Gucci in 2015 with a bang, taking over from Frida Giannini who had carried Tom Ford’s sexy/suit-y legacy forward when he left the brand in the mid-oughts. But that formula was stale and predictable and it was time for something new. I attended Michele’s first fashion show for Gucci in Milan — one that divided opinions as sharply as one of the knife pleats on the runway. With men and women both dressed in floral suits and pussy bow blouses, many left thinking, “what was that?” Others loved the gender blending. It was a fresh, young attitude that would eventually seep into the mainstream.