The review of the Gucci FW19 Collection

3.30 pm, via Mecenate 77. Milan stops for 15 minutes to watch one of the most anticipated collections of the Italian fashion week: the Gucci FW19.

Inside the location guests find themselves wrapped in a bright bubble made of mirrors, 120,000 LED bulbs give off a glacial light while a long circular catwalk awaits to be ridden by the models. The lights come on, the music gets up: the show starts.

The looks follow each other quickly one after the other, from the beginning Alessandro Michele decides to show that behind all this there is him, his chic-nerd touch, his passion for exaggeration, him. Ties and pantyhose embroidered for women, pointed studs and blazer for him. Gucci mixes its thousand personalities, putting them all on stage: there are sophisticated and romantic looks made of voilants and lace but also provocative and strong made of leather jackets and gold jewelry. It is impossible not to notice the profound work behind every single look, different materials mixed thanks to a deep styling work. Floral textures that meet the tartan, oversized & 70s look alternated with rock garments. Gucci puts on stage Gucci, confirming its unconventional philosophy but disappointing a little bit the expectations of the Italian audience who awaited, for its great return to Milan, a revolution after the French trilogy.

e incontrano il tartan, look oversize anni '70 alternati da rock garments. Gucci mette in scena Gucci, confermando la sua filosofia anticonformista ma deludendo un po' le aspettative del pubblico italiano che attendeva, per il suo grande ritorno a Milano, una rivoluzione dopo la trilogia francese. 

The general atmosphere of disquiet typical of Michele seems to be briefly interrupted only by the arrival on the catwalk of small references to sportswear: gold shin pads, knee pads worn on embroidered pantyhose and a pair of sneaker glimpsed in the hands of a model.

Focus of the show, however, seems to have been the mask - a theme anticipated by the invitation - worn by the models in different variations, colors and shapes. Faces covered by this accessory that seems to want to increase the atmosphere of mystery: hidden identities that seem to whisper a subtle protest, an unconventional message in pure Michele's style. In this case, however, the mask is not synonymous of alienation, falsehood, but becomes an element that allows man to be who he really wants to be, allows him to interpret a role as he sees fit and reveals that part of himself that he wants to communicate, instead preserving what he wants to remain hidden.

And then the accessories, from the imposing Gucci frames, to the earrings worn as if they were more than just a jewel, but real works of art, golden and impressive in shape; precious brooches light up the blazers while the small circles with spikes give a rock touch to a classic look.

Maybe it's not possible to talk about revolution, maybe Gucci is not yet ready to open a new chapter, to go in the "street wave", but how effectively all this would be Michele style? But what is impossible not to admire is the ability of the brand to stage collections in which the details are able to make the difference every time. Gucci has returned home.