Gucci Will Stage the First Fashion Show at Westminster Abbey

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Gucci will present its Cruise show in June at the Cloisters of Westminster Abbey, making it the first fashion house to ever show at the historic Gothic cathedral, The Telegraph exclusively reveals. Lisa Armstrong writes:

The venue, with its stupendous 1,000 year history, represents a personal coup for Alessandro Michele, barely into his second year as Gucci’s creative director, who describes the news, after delicate negotiations with the Abbey, as "magical".

Westminster Abbey is the final resting place of seventeen monarchs, the site of sixteen royal weddings, and soon will be transformed into the setting for Michele's romantic, eclectic, frumpy, successful, new Gucci.

He's taking this seriously. "London is always on my mind and in my memories. I’m obsessed with British culture, past and present," Michele told The Telegraph.

Michele has staged past Gucci shows at locales like a disused train depot in Milan and a city street and West Chelsea garage space in New York, but this will surely be the most extravagant setting yet.

Not everyone thinks this is an appropriate setting for a fashion show. New York Times fashion critic Vanessa Friedman tweeted:

.@Gucci's next Cruise will be in The Cloisters of Westminster Abbey. Anyone else think the context is a little weird for a clothes show?

— Vanessa Friedman (@VVFriedman) February 3, 2016