Gucci Cruise 2020. Courtesy of Gucci.
Over the years, Italian luxury brand Gucci has created eyewear for those looking to shun the limelight as well as much as those looking to shine in it. One need only look as far as its latest SS20 campaign video, directed by Yorgos Lanthimos, to see how much shades suggest allure and anonymity in equal measure. Entitled Of Course a Horse, the SS20 campaign places Alessandro Michele’s latest collection in the gas stations and boulevards of downtown Los Angeles. And as golden hour sinks over LA, casting a glow over car washes and parking lots, the collection’s colourful and geometric frames find their time shine. Standout shades from the campaign video include a ‘60s inspired, oversized white pair with dark lenses, as well as an exaggerated black goggle-shaped number with supervillain-esque orange-coloured lenses and a chunky black ceramic chain attached at either end.
Gucci SS20. Courtesy of Gucci
Since becoming creative director of Gucci in 2016, Michele has taken a fluid approach to design by weaving freely between decades for inspiration. Arguably, his flamboyant eyewear is his calling card: collections frequently make use of shapes and frames reminiscent of the ‘70s and ‘80s—his Gucci collections have included everything from rhinestone bedazzled frames to futuristic lenses fit for intergalactic warfare.
Gucci eyewear has often typified the traits of its respective creative director’s work. Frida Giannini’s 8-year stint between 2006 and 2014, prior to Michele, created collections celebrated for their subtle seductiveness—her sunglasses often made use of conservative frame shapes and classic styles, offering a timeless wearability. Meanwhile, Tom Ford’s infamous reputation for bringing ‘sexy’ back to Gucci from 1994 to 2004 precedes itself. Ford’s eyewear, predominantly rendered in dark colour schemes, played with proportion, and gave definition to the wearer’s face. On his obsession with dark lenses, he has said: “everything else can droop and slide but that pair of dark glasses stays sharp and crisp.”
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