Gucci’s Love Parade Collection Paid Homage to Marilyn Monroe and More of Old Hollywood
Shannon Adducci
Style Director
Alessandro Michele‘s creation of a pair of ruby red slippers for Harry Styles to wear in his turn as Dorothy from the “Wizard of Oz” (for his “Harryween” shows at Madison Square Garden) may have just been a coincidence, but they were no less perfect a foreshadowing to last night’s Gucci Love Parade in Los Angeles.
There, using Hollywood Boulevard as a runway, the brand’s creative director presented a collection that paid homage to the mythicism of Hollywood, an enchantment that has both personally touched Michele through his own childhood and also more broadly helped to build the Italian luxury brand’s own fabled pop culture status, which will soon play out on the silver screen (and already has behind the scenes) in the upcoming Ridley Scott film “House of Gucci.”
“There’s something creepy and fascinating about L.A. It’s not just the sun, it’s also the dark side. I was thinking about Marilyn Monroe, an appointment with a Venus and you don’t know if it will be love or murder,” he told WWD in an interview backstage before the show.
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It would be cliché to say the show was star studded — but it was, literally. Models, which included Michele friend (and “House of Gucci” star) Jared Leto, St. Vincent and Miranda July walked over the star-shaped metal plates of Hollywood’s Walk of Fame, as a celeb-heavy front row (which included everyone from Lizzo to James Corden) looked on.
The actual collection was an amalgamation of various Hollywood aesthetic tropes. From lacy slip dresses recalling 1930s boudoir sets and film noir genres to the plentiful cowboy hats and Western accents harking back to the golden age of Western films in the 1960s, Michele hit most of the notes. A series of double-breasted suits, some also done in a Marilyn-like satin, nodded to the power of its silhouette and Gucci’s own red carpet history. In a case of runway to red carpet — and back — Gwyneth Paltrow donned a replica of her iconic 1996 red velvet suit from Tom Ford’s most important collection for Gucci.
Footwear was equally cinematic, from sky-high platforms (now a Gucci staple) and studded wooden clogs, to plenty of Western boots to accompany Michele’s cowboy fantasy (though some cowboy hats were paired with trekky sneakers).
As is usually the case with Michele’s bodies of work, the collection was chock full with details to digest. But perhaps the most anticipated part of the collection will be how the star themselves immortalize the looks on future red carpets.
