Gucci opened the first fashion show after the resignation of the position of brand creative director Alessandro Michele on Friday evening Beijing time, and the opening of the Fall/Winter 2023 menswear show, just like Michele when she first appeared eight years ago, a low-key event, accompanied by the music played by the improvised band, many people sitting in the front row were whispering, curious about what kind of path Gucci would take next.
With the arrival and approach of the post-epidemic era and the Chinese New Year atmosphere, the Gucci brand is obviously ready to do a big job in 2023, starting with this menswear show. Before the official launch of the show, the brand released a promotional campaign called "The Gucci Whisper Gucci Whisper", which included singer, actor and brand spokesperson Lu Han, actor Chen Zheyuan, actor Zhou Yiran, and singer Qingli, inviting everyone to the post-Michele era of Gucci.
Last November, after Alessandro Michele left the brand, there was a lot of speculation about who would take over as one of Kering's most important luxury brands, and the list of designers who can take on the job is not long, but Kering is also likely to promote the trust creative director within the team, and the latest menswear collection launched at Milan Fashion Week comes from this team.
Earlier, it was reported that Alessandro Michele was still involved in the design of this season, but in the official press release, the creators of this series are the core creative team close to Alessandro Michele. This time, the team decided to give the theme to improvisation, which, as the brand says, "improvisation is also collaboration." When the free interpretation of each individual's mind is intricately intertwined, collective expression arises. ”
Accompanied by the morphed version of the rock band Marc Ribot's Ceramic Dog performing live, everyone seems to be in the scene of improvisational theater, jazz and punk elements bloom in the center of the stage, and models wearing the latest series emerge, their more or less Gucci "old flower" elements, making people return to the booming and rapid economic development of the last century.
The "Crystal GG" with the invitation backdrop, a new lacquered canvas that pays homage to Gucci's classic patterns created in the '70s, brings more dazzling shine, with different colours, appearing in workwear, handbags or shoes throughout the collection, occupying the absolute "C" position.
Throwing away the glitz of the past and returning to the classics of brand design elements seems to give wearers more freedom to match at will, which is in line with the public's need to get rid of the shackles of LOGO and chase the core symbols of luxury brands in the post-epidemic era.
Iconic accessories from Gucci's archive are once again on display, with push-in locks, horsebits, crosses and more, awakening young consumers to the pursuit of classics.
There are many kinds of improvisation, and Gucci's improvisation also has many homages to the brand's "golden age" designers, and under the wide and languid silhouette, it also meets the straightforward needs of more young generations. Some of the grotesque designs of Michele's period return to their essence in the present, giving more to authenticity.
Suits with detachable "components" that can be transformed into sleeveless jackets and shorts;
The sportswear collection harks back to the fashion of the 1980s, with them swaying on the dance floor in pink, satin blue and equestrian-themed quilted jackets;
Motorcycle clothing pays homage to archival work from the early 21st century; Inspired by the same era, distressed jeans adorn Gucci's original logo from 1953.
The Dionysian bag from previous seasons still made a strong appearance, but the importance of the Jackie bag was re-emphasized, softer in structure, and decorated with the push-in lock originally designed by Tom Ford for the brand.
The classic '70s round-toe boots are back on the scene, with some feminine heeled slippers, Princetown slippers with Gucci's signature green, red and green webbing, and classic horsebit loafers.
The creative and commercial direction of luxury brands always complement each other. Since 2015, Bizzarri-Michele's "Dream Team" portfolio has helped the brand more than triple in size, reaching sales of 9.73 billion euros last year. In Michele's first three years, sales figures grew by more than 35 percent for five consecutive quarters, prompting Bizzarri to set a revenue target of €10 billion for the brand in June of that year.
But the momentum didn't hold up as expected, but there's no doubt that Michele has built a sluggish brand around the sexy glamour of the 2000s into a very attractive brand centered on quirky freak fashion during his eight years in office.
Later in his tenure, there were many revelations about the commercial and creative teams, and Bizzarri and Pinault repeatedly urged Michele to initiate strong design shifts to accelerate the pace of the collection and further enhance the brand's luxury positioning, and even maintained two design teams. But when Alessandro Michele's sudden announcement of leaving Gucci came out last November, it was clear that the two sides had different opinions and could no longer go on together. The news was accompanied by a number of forecasting analysts who gave negative comments about the brand's future profitability and direction.
And during Friday's Gucci Fall/Winter 2023 menswear runway, Kering Chairman and CEO Francois-Henri Pinault said in an interview that Gucci's long-term CEO Marco Bizzarri will stay on and lead the brand in the post-Michele period, "Marco is definitely the CEO of the next chapter of Gucci, I need him to build it with me, and I am fully confident that we will succeed." ”
In a recent research note, Erwan Rambourg, global head of consumer and retail research at HSBC, said Gucci could perform better in 2023 and the worst is over. The forecast given at this point is that when the data is released on February 15, revenue will fall by 12.5% in the fourth quarter.
"The brand has lost market share, and at the moment, it may have been a strategic mistake: cutting costs in the spring of 2020 while most of its peers are doubling down on spending. In addition, we believe that the brand's expression has become somewhat narrow, which makes it particularly vulnerable in the Chinese market, where the group has recently strengthened its management and the updated marketing team should ensure a more commercial approach. ”
While following up on this launch, we also saw the efforts of the brand's China marketing team to create a new story of the brand's fashion from the first cycle of fashion.
Written by: Zijun
Editor: Juruj