Alessandro Michele had warned journalists interviewing him about his S/S 18 collection for Gucci – he wasn't going to change style and modus operandi that soon. So the brand's Pre-Fall 18 collection - as shown by its recently released lookbook shot by photographer Peter Schlesinger in different Roman locations - is a mix-and-match of what we have seen so far including floral prints and decorative motifs stolen from obscure ancient books; streetwear is recombined with luxury pieces; cheongsam-esque gowns are matched with velvet turbans and geek glasses; sparkling beaded wigs accessorise clownish silhouettes; trompe l'oeil decors clash with Western jackets with suede inserts; hip hop style, street-glam and bourgeoise looks are all rolled into one outfit, while sensual sandals are donned with thick logo socks for that librarian chic touch that Michele adopted from the very beginning.
In many ways the endlessly bulimic and opulent remix of garments and accessories is not the most interesting thing of the lookbook, the intriguing aspect about it is indeed the juxtaposition of the designs with the architectures surrounding them.
Some of the images for this collection were indeed shot in the area of Rome known as Coppedè, from the achitect who designed it between 1915 and 1927 – Gino Coppedè. The architect had conceived it as a sort of village comprising almost 30 buildings and 17 villas, but his plans remained incomplete after his mysterious suicide.
The area can be accessed from via Tagliamento by passing under a vast double arch connecting two buildings known as The Ambassadors' Palaces.
The arch grants access to Piazza Mincio that boasts at its centre the Baroque Frog Fountain dated 1924. Large mansions and the Villini delle Fate (Little Villas of the Fairies – with decorative motifs homaging Florence, Venice and Rome) surround the square.
The Coppedè area became well-known for being a bizarre neighbourhood in which different styles - Roman, Greek, Byzantine, Medieval, Gothic, Baroque, Liberty and Art Deco - were all eclectically combined together. In a way this area could be defined as a composite neighbourhood, a pastiche of architectural languages.
The so-called Spider Palace (taking its name from the gold spider on top of its main door) was inspired for example by Assyrian-Babylonian achitectures, while the Fairy Villas with their arches and Medieval motifs and assorted materials comprising marble, terracotta, travertine and glass among the others, are characterised by a total asymmetry that generates in the passersby a sense of vertigo and the impression of having been misplaced from Rome to an imaginary fable-like land.
In a way Coppedé is the perfect area for Alessandro Michele's composite remixed collections: though real, this is indeed an imaginary area where all sorts of architectures get together to create an uncanny effect; the same can be said about Alessandro Michele's obsession for hyper-decorative motifs that tend to generate confusion between different eras and seasons. There is also a further layer to explore in this architectural link with Gucci's Pre-Fall 18 collection.
Coppedè fascinated many creative minds throughout the decades, especially horror film directors: Dario Argento shot here L'uccello dalle piume di cristallo (The Bird with the Cyrstal Plumage, 1970) and Inferno (1980); Piazza Mincio appears in Francesco Barilli's Il profumo della signora in nero (The Perfume of the Lady in Black, 1974), while the Spider Palace was one of the locations for Mario Bava's La ragazza che sapeva troppo (The Girl Who Knew Too Much, 1963; Mario Bava also worked with Argento on Inferno, providing some of the optical effects, matte paintings and trick shots for the film).
Michele tried to evoke the demons of supernatural horror film Inferno in the lookbook. Part of a trilogy of films with Suspiria (1977) and Mother of Tears (2007) derived from Thomas de Quincey's Suspiria de Profundis, the movie starts with a New York-based poet, Rose (Irene Miracle), fascinated by the story of three evil sisters - Mater Lachrymarum (The Lady of Tears), Mater Suspiriorum (The Lady of Sighs) and Mater Tenebrarum (The Lady of Darkness).
Rose reads about them in an ancient book entitled "The Three Mothers" in which the author states the three sisters rule the world with sorrow, tears, and darkness, and dwell in separate homes built for them - Mater Suspiriorum lives in Freiburg; Mater Lachymarum lives in Rome, and Mater Tenebrarum lives in New York.
The story moves to Rome where Rose's brother Mark (Leigh McCloskey) is studying music and where one of his classmates, Sara (Eleonora Giorgi), becomes fascinated by the story of "The Three Mothers".
Michele basically borrowed most of the Rome section of the film for the lookbook: the latter features several photographs of models in the aula magna of the Dental Hospital George Eastman (in Viale Regina Elena 287/B) where Sara and Mark are studying and where Mark gets distracted by the intense gaze of a beautiful student (Ania Pieroni) with a cat (she is the Mother of Tears), a vision replicated in Gucci's lookbook by a model with a cat on her lap in the same location.
In the next scene Sara arrives by taxi in front of a large door in Piazza Mincio (this architectural spot has actually got a cinematic origin since it was originally inspired by the set of 1914 silent film Cabiria) and then goes up the stairs. These scenes are all replicated in the pictures of the lookbook featuring the taxi, Piazza Mincio and the Frog Fountain as well.
The vivid colours of Argento's film with its trippy bright and bold shades of red, blue, and greenish-yellow background lighting and stylish horror scenarios are also evoked in the moods of the lookbook images.
Michele also used another cinematic reference: some of the rhinestone bras donned with chiffon evening dresses in nude tones or overimposed on dresses and jackets call indeed to mind the attire of Theda Bara as Cleopatra.
The architectural horror moods prevail, though, but it must be said that Michele is definitey not the first fashion designer who got inspired by Argento or by horror films. Death and fashion, as seen in previous posts, are often interpreted by designers as a terrifying, beautiful, erotic and dangerous dichotomy. You could argue that, in this case, the horror connection works rather well for other reasons as well: Inferno is a trippy film with too many disjointed story ideas, in the same way as Gucci's collections have become mixes of inspirations alchemically combined together.
Hopefully the architectural twist of this lookbook will inspire some Gucci fans to develop an interest in architecture rather than just in peacocking in the street. Who knows, maybe from now on we may see groups of Gucci fans touring Coppedè and the other spots in the lookbook such as the Casina delle Civette or House of the Owls, residence of Prince Giovanni Torlania the younger until his death in 1938 (designed in 1840 by Giuseppe Jappelli). And if Gucci fans don't fancy the architectural tour, well, they can always rewatch Inferno and maybe try and spot references and correspondences between the movie and the Pre-Fall 18 lookbook (Bulgari snake keychain - snake bas-relief anybody?).
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