Gucci show at Paris Fashion Week turned into a place of rivalry between Alessandro Michele and model Ayesha Tan Jones who campaigns for people with mental difficulties.
If there is a brand that supports Milan Fashion Week’s trend for sexuality it is Gucci. Alongside buttoned-up two-piece suits the catwalk showcased revealing looks made of latex, chiffon, and lacework. Peignoirs combined with dresses with original flower-shaped cuts, conservative suits, and looks apparently influenced by worker uniforms. Accessories seemed to cocoon the models: gloves, hats, wide glasses, choker collars made of various materials, and long plastic chains hanging off the glasses, all of this seemed to chain the models to their looks.
However, the least usual part of the show was its final as the catwalk was hit by models clad in white looking more like medical gowns and straight jackets. In a white room almost as sterile as a hospital ward where the models walked on a travellator with transparent hand rails it looked somewhat provocative and scary. Model Ayesha Tan Jones who took part in the show got appalled by the presented looks and walked out with her hands up with the words “mental health is not fashion” written on them. Jones said her protest was peaceful and told Gucci not use the clothes that turned into a symbol of stigmatizing people with mental difficulties for quick fashion. After the show Alessandro Michele said he did not intend to offend anyone while the straight jackets were meant to be an absolute symbol of a uniform that chains people up.
Now it seems like every kid is familiar with Gucci’s iconic red-and-green stripe as it is one of the most imitated symbols on fake clothes. Alessandro Michele tries straying away from the brand’s past, and replacing the ‘uniform’ with couture. Will he succeed? Let’s wait for the next collection and find out.
Written by Polina Vorobyova
Translated by Tony Savosin
