A lot can happen in less than a week. That was the initial thought that crossed the mind when the first look from the Gucci fall/winter 2015 show hit the catwalk on Monday.
After a surprise early exit by outgoing designer Frida Giannini, the design team at Gucci — led by Alessandro Michele, who previously was in charge of the brand’s accessories — reworked the entire collection in reportedly less then a week. Together they offered up a collection that had very little in common with the work done by the woman who had helmed the label for almost a decade.
Giannini had a clear love of the 70s and an affinity for a more dandy-esque sort of menswear. Well, Michele and his team pushed those ideas even further. Into the realm of felinity, with a collection that mixed male and female models wearing pieces that blurred gender lines.
From the first pussy bow red silk shirt that opened the show, through the bracelet sleeve jackets, ruffled turtlenecks and semi sheer floral lace tops — all of them worn by men — this collection took Gucci in a decidedly new direction. Daring, too, were the accessories — Michele’s wheelhouse — that will be remembered for their fur edged slide on shoes, the jaunty berets and knit pompom-topped caps.
As for the soundtrack, which was the music from Tom Ford’s film “A Single Man,”  that intriguing choice will have fashion lovers speculating at its hidden meaning for the rest of the season.
The collection looked youthful, as in the models seemed as if they might just be hitting puberty, but most of all it looked different. Startlingly so. And at the end of the day that is exactly what Gucci needs right now.
