Since taking the helm at Gucci just two years ago, Alessandro Michele has reinvigorated the Italian house by creating a maximalist universe that blends old and new. (Take its #GucciGrams project, for example, a series of Instagram-specific artworks inspired by 10th-century China). Michele doubled down on his particular breed of retro-futurism with today’s fall/winter 17 outing. The show’s soundtrack was lifted from The OA, the set was neon purple and positioned an enormous pyramid at its center, the clothing was a mix of new looks and vintage pieces, and, perhaps most notably, the invitation was a vinyl record featuring one of today’s biggest rappers, A$AP Rocky.
Attendees were sent a 12″ vinyl record with “What are we going to do with all this future?” designed by artist Coco Capitan printed on its sleeve. On its A-side, longtime Gucci friend Florence Welch reads from William Blake’s collection of poetry Songs of Innocence and Experience. If that sounds familiar, it’s because Welch performed the selection live as the soundtrack for the house’s spring/summer 17 show last season.
Flipped over, the record plays the sweet sounds of A$AP Rocky reading “A love letter from Frederick Wentworth to Anne Elliot” from Jane Austen’s classic novel Persuasion. We presume it sounds beautiful in his distinctive Harlem accent, but no actual audio of the wax has surfaced on social media (we also presume a record player wasn’t too high on editor’s MFW packing lists). “I can listen no longer in silence. I must speak to you by such means as are within my reach,” might not sound like it’s lifted from a rap banger, but anybody who can make “Margiela” rhyme with so many words is a poet to us.
Credits
Text Emily Manning
Photography Daniel Jackson
Styling Alastair McKimm