Since Alessandro Michele took the helm of Gucci, the Italian fashion house has experienced a creative rejuvenation. By invoking a mixture of pop culture, folklore, and art history, Michele has been able to inject a new sense of imagination into the century-old brand. Compelling visual storytelling has bolstered a revival in the ingenuity and creativity of the garments themselves. Beyond traditional photography, the house has explored new creative outlets, from Instagram campaigns to artist collaborations.
The Italian fashion house is back at it again this season with a release of a limited edition capsule collection in collaboration with Spanish artist Ignasi Monreal. Monreal’s collection takes its primary inspiration from Old Masters paintings. The artist says he hopes to enlighten a younger generation about the cultural significance of the historical works.
“When you look at the scenes, characters, feelings depicted and strip down the historical costumes, you realize how timeless the artist’s message is, how acutely they’ve noticed something about people and their relationships,” Monreal said. “Aesthetically, they are just unbeatable, and they made a huge impression and impact on me when I was just getting into art.“
The artworks Monreal created for the campaign also invite us to enter and explore the Gucci universe. One piece takes fantastical characters from the Gucci runway and drops them into one of the most well-known Renaissance mise-en-scenes: Hieronymus Bosch’s spectral tableaux, The Garden of Earthly Delights. In another painting, Monreal cleverly references the Pre-Raphaelite painting Ophelia by John Everett Millais. Other visuals were conjured from the artist’s own imagination, including a scene of Gucci-clad mermaid models lounging lakeside clutching their iPhones and a flying unicorn resting at a parking lot near a pair of slides.
By exploring the overlap of fashion, art, and digital media, Gucci aims to stimulate conversations that resonate both inside and outside of the fashion world. Monreal says Gucci’s creative director is uniquely suited to explore those intersections. “Alessandro Michele is an incredible visionary with an amazing sense of aesthetics and relevancy,” the artist says. “The Gucci team is incredibly supportive and giving, you really become a part of the Italian family.”
