The Gucci show at Milan Fashion Week yesterday positively buzzed and frothed with excitement.
First up, before any clothes had even hit the runway, the crowds of Milanese kids patiently waiting outside the show venue in their hundreds went wild at the arrival of Gucci’s star guest: Rihanna. The singer wore a shimmering chainmail Gucci headpiece, black latex crop top that revealed her baby bump and a lilac fur coat and was accompanied by her boyfriend A$AP Rocky, who wore a black tracksuit and carried a monogram Gucci suitcase.
The front row was generally a celebrity-packed affair, with Serena Williams, Jared Leto, Daisy Edgar-Jones and Chiara Ferragni also among the lineup.
But while the A-list had most definitely assembled to see Alessandro Michele’s AW22 Gucci vision, the real excitement came when an unexpected collaboration hit the runway.
Wait! Was that an Adidas three-stripe I just saw down the side of a pair of green Gucci jacquard trousers? Could it be?
At first, Michele teased the audience with a trickle: an Adidas sneaker there, a three-stipe on a nylon bonnet there… and then the duo-branded merch kicked in with a flood.
There were three-stripe berets, capes and giant leather bags, and brilliant two-way Gucci monogram caps emblazoned with the Adidas Originals logo. Tracksuit bottoms, sporty jersey maxi dresses and lightweight trench coats spoke to our desire these days for an easy-to-wear wardrobe, but the partnership was most attractive when applied to items you’d never hit the gym in.
Gucci’s ultra modern slim-fit suiting popped in jewel tones with white three-stripes down the outer leg and inner arm, and with a white Adidas leaf motif on the breast pocket with the word Gucci subbed in underneath; and a white silk puff-sleeved Victoriana gown was given a fresh edge thanks to the addition of navy Adidas insignia.
Alessandro Michele is establishing himself as a collaboration connoisseur: the surprise Hacker Project Gucci launched last year in partnership with its Kering stablemate Balenciaga was a clever rhinestone-studded riff on the identities of both houses, while the The North Face x Gucci merch has been a runaway commercial success story that stores can’t keep on their shelves.
Much like the latter partnership, one suspects Adidas x Gucci will have affordably priced product among the lineup, a smart move that will afford it greater reach and thus ultimate global hype. For now though, we know very little about price points or release date, with the brands simply confirming in a statement that “they are joining forces in a new collaboration - adidas x Gucci - which combines the heritage and the creative codes of both brands.”
Hypebeasts, best call your financial advisers now.
