It has become a bit of a tradition for Alessandro Michele at Gucci to come up with Pre-Fall lookbooks that feature architecturally interesting spaces in the background.
As you may remember from a previous post, Gucci's Pre-Fall 2018 lookbook was shot in the area of Rome known as Coppedè, from the achitect who designed it between 1915 and 1927 - Gino Coppedè - and in locations that inspired also Italian horror director Dario Argento.
For the Pre-Fall 2019 collection Michele continued instead the archaeological thread that he started with the Cruise 2019 collection, showcased in Arles, in the South of France, amid the ruins of the Alyscamps Roman necropolis.
Yet for the occasion Michele moved back from France to Italy and in particular to Pompeii and Herculaneum for a shoot inspired by history. The clothes and accessories were actually more of the same already seen on Gucci's runways since Michele became the Creative Director.
The designs (presented via a lookbook, but displayed in the company's Milan-based hub for the press) didn't show any new direction for Michele: they looked eccentric and flamboyant, opulent and elegant, covered in embroideries or made with more traditional fabrics. At times they seemed luxurious vintage finds rather than new designs, at others family heirlooms found in the wardrobe of a beloved Auntie Mame-like relative.
In the lookbook images the looks were layered forming contrasting clashes and combinations of colours and patterns: a fuchsia leather skirt suit was layered under a quilted bomber jacket and accessorised with red gloves; there were plenty of kaftans in rich prints and tailored three-piece suits in thick brocaded fabrics, plus faux fur coats, leather jackets covered in embroidered strawberries, floral dresses matched with sport socks and pool side slippers or tracksuits bottoms accessorised with glittery sandals and silky turbans.
For the evening the collection included velvet dresses and ball gowns covered in sequins or with embrodieries of starry nights. In this maximalist orgy that could be interpreted as an over the top exercise in styling with some cringing notes added (see the thick nude/brown stockings of the type only your grandma would wear between 1981 and 1982...), the architectural backgrounds actually proved more interesting than the actual clothes (and they are probably the only thing that can help us distinguish one collection from the other in Michele's case).
Director and photographer Harmony Korine took the pictures in the archaeological parks of Pompeii and Herculaneum, buried with its inhabitants under ash, dust and pebbles by an eruption of Vesuvius in 79 A.D. (both are UNESCO World Heritage Sites). The images will be published next year in a limited-edition volume by Idea Books.
In Korine's images the models pose, drink fizzy drinks, eat pizzas and sweets (a reference to the food on the go that you could get from the "thermopolia" in Pompeii and Herculaneum? These public establishments served hot food and drinks especially at lunch time since it was customary to have lunch outside the home...) or get photographed by tourists as if they were works of art.
Behind them you may be able to spot sections of some of the most intriguing places in Pompeii famous for their frescoed panels in black, Pompeian red and yellow, including the House of Menander, Stephanus' laundry (a very apt fashion references as in these spaces people would weave and dye textiles, spin wool and wash clothes) and the House of the Lararium of Achilles.
There aren't actually any direct connections, links and juxtapositions between the colours, themes and frescoes on the walls and the clothes. The archaeological sites are there just to provide a set and setting and, in many ways, that's a bit of a shame as it seems a missed opportunity, especially when it comes to the images shot in Herculaneum.
Built on a volcanic plateau, on a cliff over the sea at the foot of Vesuvius, the town was modestly sized compared to Pompeii, but it featured equally beautiful places including the temple known as the Sacellum of the four Gods, dedicated to Minerva, Neptune, Mercury and Volcano, divinities related to the world of manufacture, trade and crafts, the polychrome marble decorations of the glass paste mosaics like the one depicting Neptune and Amphitrite that adorns the east wall of a house, or decorating the nymphaeum in the same house.
As a whole Gucci's Pre-Fall 2019 collection is as eccentric and bizarre as all the others designed by Alessandro Michele, but at least it fulfills our hope of seeing a fashion photoshoot in Pompeii (a wish from 2008...), besides it ties well with the current news.
Last week archaeologists found the remains of horses in an ancient Pompeii stable and in particular the petrified remains of a harnessed horse and saddle in the stable of a villa. It probably belonged to a high-ranking military officer, perhaps a general, in ancient Roman times, Pompeii archaeological park's head Massimo Osanna explained to the press.
Looks like Pompeii and Herculaneum, frozen in time yet still beautiful, are still trending and they probably remain more intriguing, mysterious and fascinating than any fashion collection that may ever be shot there.
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