Earlier this week, Gucci shared its dazzling new collection: an outdoor “love parade” staged on California’s Hollywood Boulevard. The runway show took over the legendary, star-lined street – known as the home of the Academy Awards – with an eclectic cast of Hollywood creatives, including Jared Leto, Miranda July, Macaulay Culkin, Phoebe Bridgers and Janaya Khan.
In an accompanying statement, Gucci creative director Alessandro Michele said the collection was inspired by the old school glamour of Hollywood. The designer grew up idealising the city – which he called a magical “dream factory” – when he was young and living in squat on the outskirts Rome. “Those subversive tales helped me in piercing the grayness,” he says. “Down in that tiny speck in the world, HOLLYWOOD seemed a bright and shiny star. Nine letters dripping with desire.”
The resulting collection pays homage to this old Hollywood, with opulent statement furs, cat-eye frames, sparkling fabrics and maximalist prints – designs that command attention. “Los Angeles shines in its own magic, which is timeless,” adds Michele. “It’s a place that brushes the divinities, becoming a mythology of the possible.” In an exclusive series of backstage images, viewable above, photographer Kevin Tachman caught the magic up close.
