Gucci as led by designer Alessandro Michele took the the gang to Paris, where the label presented its Cruise 2019 collection. The runway was held within the Promenade Des Alyscamps, a Roman cemetery in Arles, France.
Michele loves a good double entendre, which is why he was attracted to the location. In press, Michele wrote, “Alyscamps is a Roman cemetery, but it’s also not a cemetery, it was a promenade, it became a walk in 1700s; it is hybridized, it does not look like a cemetery because it is and it isn’t. I like things that seem like something but are not.”
Models walked along pathways that were lit by candles and flames for a presentation that was described as “a rave in a cemetery.” Though really, given the religious references, music and dark lighting, the presentations felt a lot more like Met Gala “Heavenly Bodies” part deux than a drug-fueled dance party.
While the collection was full of peculiar pieces, the most startling item was an accessory fashion to look like a rib cage. According to press, “the inspiration is an ossuary (a box that acts as a final resting space for a human’s remains), the crypts of the cardinals, of the monks in the 15th century, and the precious decorations. This idea is that everything that is linked to the afterlife is accompanied by something of maximum beauty.”
Check out some of the bags below along with a video of the full presentation below.