Alessandro Michele vs Demna Gvasalia

Two names above all have rocked the fashion world in recent months – and they couldn’t be more different. They are Alessandro Michele, Gucci's creative director since January 2015, and Demna Gvasalia, the leader of Vetements’ collective at the helm of Balenciaga since October 2015.

On the occasion of Gvasalia’s debut for Cristobal Balenciaga’s House at Paris Fashion Week last March, Alexander Fury decided to compare and contrast the two creative talents, as no one had ever dared to do before (this explains the reason why Michele sat front row at the show).

It emerged, in a quite surprising way, that the two designers, despite the clear differences that distinguish them – age, nationality, professional background, aesthetic ideals – have much more in common than you think. Modern and revolutionary visions worthy of two personalities who have the future of fashion in their hands:

#1 The importance of inviduality

Alessandro: “The [fashion] world is completely different now. I think that customers are ready to decide by themselves what they want to mix and match. It’s not the idea of a total look. It’s not fresh anymore”.

Demna: “People look for that kind of individuality now. They don’t want to look like a campaign picture. They choose. I think there is this desire and need for being a bit different. That’s why the individuality matters much more”.

#2 Clothes beyond the seasons

A: “For me, nothing is old. If a dress in beautiful, and is very personal, it can live forever. I don’t care about which season it is”.

D: “I you love a dress, you love it. You don’t care which season it is. I write the season the seasons on the labels of all the clothes at Vetements, for example, and the sales people at the beginning said: ‘Oh you can’t do this, people won’t want to wear it in the year after.” No, they will. And actually I think it’s even and added value. It’s something that continues, and still works”.

#3 Real clothes as a starting point

D: “I don’t remember when I sketched last time”.

A: “Me neither”.

D: “I write in my iPhone ideas now. Because I don’t have a sketchbook with me. I just do notes, reminders. I think with clothing, it’s so three-dimensional, it’s impossible to draw it. I hate working on a stock man. I prefer to have a real person, so she moves. I always start with a garment, and then I cut. I destroy so many clothes. To make more clothes”.

#4 The stylist’s role

A: “It’s not that I’m against the idea of a stylist. It’s just my story. I don’t have a person that is so close to me to share so much. The styling, for me, is the show. It’s impossible to translate to another person. It’s a vision. Who can have the same vision as me?”

D: “When I work with Lotta [Volkova, Vetements and Balenciaga’s stylist] she knows what I know, what I want. It’s that kind of exchange again. We’re very close, we really know each other, we’re friends. It’s not like I hired her”.

M: “It’s not a stylist – she’s a friend of yours. It’s your life, this is not a stylist”.

#5 Genderless collections

A: “I always say I didn’t invent anything. It’s something that exists, it’s our life. I can’t ignore it”.

D: “ Vetements latest show finished with two identical looks: one was on a guy and one was on a girl. We didn’t really think – oh let’s show that both of them can wear it. We just tried them and both worked and were incredible. It’s something that is just… normal now”.