Gucci SS20. Courtesy of Gucci.
Usually the hastiness of getting models dressed for a runway show is hidden behind the curtain and only the polished result is seen strutting down the catwalk. For Gucci’s AW20 show, however, creative director Alessandro Michele let guests into the makeup room and choreographed an almost ballet-like process of getting ready, which he showcased in a vitrine that spun in the round. Like a night at the symphony, the show commenced with the orchestra matching pitch, before the classical composition began the presentation.
The illuminated glass cage was filled with concentric readying stations, where assistants in humble grey suits, prepared the models in Gucci’s signature flared ‘70s-style suiting as well as more theatrical pieces—gowns with petticoats and white-bibbed black dresses with tall hats that brought 17th century puritans to mind. Somehow the ripped denim looked perfectly at home next to the Doctor Zhivago-esque fur-trimmed coats, but of course, Michele has a distinct way of remixing time periods, illustrated in a literal sense by the swinging pendulum in his AW20 menswear show last month, as well as the ticking metronome that glowed above his womenswear collection today.
Instead of sending models up and down a runway, they approached the edges of the glass, standing still like a collection of dolls. After the full collection was showcased around the perimeter of the stage, the models snaked out of vitrine and walked in counter rotation to the turning pedestal, where the suited assistants took their places as a curtain call before the stage faded to black.
Courtesy of Gucci.