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Today, Gucci showed its first womenswear collection under newly minted creative director Alessandro Michele, who was promoted from head accessories designer after the unceremonious firings of CEO Patrizio di Marco and creative director Frida Giannini. Michele actually has shown one Gucci collection previously, a menswear collection late January which he completely redesigned in a week—impressive. With a little more time to consider the womenswear line, we were excited to see where he took the brand. The result... was weird.
Gucci is a brand that is floated by accessories: shoes, eyewear, bags. Strangely, only seven of the 46 looks were shown with bags, all of which appeared to be the same boxy accordion shape with a thick chain strap. And logo-ed, of course.
By comparison, 19 of the looks were styled with glasses, all oversize, acetate frames in black, warm brown, and Sally Jessy Raphael red. (Expect many, many Gucci eyewear ads in the September magazines.) Another cash cow front-and-center were black leather belts with the double 'G' logo, shown in the opening look belting a leather midi skirt at the waist, and repeated toward the end of the show worn lower at the hips in a trouser and blouse look.
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Footwear included black loafers with the house's signature horsebit detail, some lined in fur. There were also full-blown fur shoes done in a slipper-type style. Covered in light brown hair, they resembled a pair of Yorkies who gave up. Rounding out the category were feminine, lace-up styles with furry pom poms at the end of the ties, shown in black as both flats and heels.
Oh, and the clothes? Falling in line with the house's glory days and fashion's current favorite era, they leaned between the very late '60s and the early '70s, with tie-neck blouses, floral suiting, and a chevron fur. Have a full look in the gallery above, which does include a fair amount of sheer, NSFW tops.