Gucci has ditched the traditional catwalk to present its latest range in a flamboyant seven-part ‘Netflix-style’ mini series – with a cameo from Harry Styles.
The luxury Italian fashion house has got round the challenge of social distancing by showing off its new designs in its drama the Ouverture of Something That Never Ended, the first two episodes of which are now available to watch on YouTube.
Set in Italy, it follows the life of Silvia – played by the androgynous Italian actress Silvia Calderoni – while showing off pieces from the new men’s, women’s and genderless collections.
Dubbed GucciFest, a new episode of the mini film series drops every evening of this week until Sunday, November 22.
Scroll down for video
Gucci has ditched the traditional catwalk to present its latest range in a flamboyant seven-part ‘Netflix-style’ mini series starring androgynous Italian actress Silvia Calderoni
Dubbed GucciFest, a new episode of the mini film series drops every evening of this week until Sunday, November 22
Creative director Alessandro Michele, who took the helm in 2015, announced in May that Gucci is scaling back to two shows a year and would no longer be putting together seasonal collections, branding it a ‘worn-out ritual’.
Speaking at a press conference, Michele said he wants to ‘set clothes free’ and doesn’t want fashion to be ‘imprisoned in shops anymore’.
As well as the clothes, the series features cameo appearances from celebrities including Harry Style, Florence Welch, Billie Eilish and Arlo Parks.
Van Sant said in the same conference: ‘It was the first time we’ve done something like you’d find on Netflix… I liked the idea of expressing a season in episodic form as it really has the potential for development and for growing, and for telling a story around a collection.’
Speaking at a press conference, Michele said he wants to ‘set clothes free’ and doesn’t want fashion to be ‘imprisoned in shops anymore’. Pictured: Silvia in episode one, dressed in a pastel coloured crystal-embellished dress with a matching Jane Austen-style pink sequinned bonnet as she heads out to pick up her post
In another eccentric scene Silvia throws a dress – from Michele’s first Gucci women’s show Fall Winter 2015 – off her balcony, to a song by Billie Eilish
The first instalment, entitled Episode 1: At Home, shows main character Silvia waking up in her Roman flat adorned in vintage décor and going through the motions of her ‘eccentric’ morning routine.
Dressed in see-through black lace pyjamas with GG mesh underwear, she’s seen going to the toilet and brushing her teeth – all while serenaded by a Gucci-clad rock band in the other room.
Seemingly inspired by the recent European lockdowns as a result of the pandemic, Silvia is then seen doing an online yoga class – only removing her kitten heels part-way through.
She then changes into a pastel coloured crystal-embellished dress with a matching Jane Austen-style pink sequinned bonnet and heads out to pick up her post.
The second episode – At the Cafe – is equally out there; Silvia – carrying the new Gucci bamboo bag – pops out to meet a friend, played by London-born singer-songwriter Arlo Parks, for a coffee
The cafe is full of eccentric characters – all of which are dressed head-to-toe in Gucci’s designs
After their meeting Parks – wearing Gucci basket high-tops – then heads off on a sightseeing trip around Rome in a vintage red car with some friends
In another eccentric scene Silvia throws a dress – from Michele’s first Gucci women’s show Fall Winter 2015 – off her balcony, to a song by Billie Eilish.
The second episode – At the Cafe – is equally out there; Silvia – carrying the new Gucci bamboo bag – pops out to meet a friend, played by London-born singer-songwriter Arlo Parks, for a coffee.
It’s all in Italian, but according to the episode synopsis the pair have ‘a meandering conversation until realising they are surrounded by others in a variety of surreal situations’.
Parks – wearing Gucci basket high-tops – then heads off on a sightseeing trip around Rome in a vintage red car with some friends while Silvia visits what appears to be an empty theatre.
In addition to its own film series, GucciFest will also showcase the work of 15 young independent designers including Collina Strada, Priya Ahluwalia, Bianca Saunders and Mowalola – who is currently putting together a range for Gap and Kanye West – in 15 additional fashion films.
For more information and episodes visit https://www.guccifest.com/#/en/