ARIA
Nature is a haunted house – but Art, a house that strives to be haunted. E.D.
Below are a few excerpts from Alessandro Michele:
“Benjamin would say that in order to foresee the future, we must change the past by searching, as it unfolds, for the reserves of energy that still hold the potential for life. In my work, I caress the roots of the past to create unexpected inflorescences by sculpting the material through grafting and pruning. I argue for this ability to re-inhabit what has already been given. For mixing, transitions, fractures, sequences. To escape the reactionary cages of purity, I pursue a poetry of the illegitimate.”
“In this sense, Gucci becomes for me a hacking laboratory of incursions and metamorphoses. An alchemical factory of contaminations where everything is connected to everything. A place where explosive flights and reactions occur: a permanent generator of sparks and unpredictable desires. So on this occasion, I want to honour my filial affection by betraying the legacy that has been passed on to me. Because the promise of endless birth is only renewed through the ability to evolve.”
“Crossing that threshold, I plundered Demna Gvasalia’s non-conformist rigour and Tom Ford’s sexual tension; I explored the anthropological implications of what shines by working with the luminosity of fabrics; I celebrated Gucci’s equestrian universe by transfiguring it into a fetish cosmogony; I sublimated Marilyn Monroe’s silhouette and the glamour of old Hollywood; I sabotaged the discreet charm of the bourgeoisie and the codes of male elegance.”
“We are ready to celebrate the event in our finest attire. Preparations are in full swing. We look forward to walking through the doors of the Savoy again, a century later: an image-rich topos in Gucci history. A very long corridor separates us from this magical, astral passage. The founding myth is re-inhabited in the light of the present. We enter a club, all neon and cameras, but discover that the party we deserve is not in the lobby of a 1920s London hotel. Instead, it takes place through a deep, ecstatic plunge into all that we crave today: a feast of air. A jubilee of breath. The idea of the feast is thus glorified in the generative power of nature and the breath of life that permeates it. In reality, the breath is what every living being constantly generates, it is “the name of the being-in-the-world, the vibration through which everything opens to life” (E. Coccia). It is a nativity that we honour in its oscillatory movement: “to breathe in is to let the world enter us; to breathe out is to project ourselves into the world that we are” (E. Coccia). I then celebrate air as a sacred principle of interpenetration, mixing and connection: a principle of existence imbued with the chemical enchantment of leaves. I sing the praises of these creatures. Of their fragility and vulnerability. Of their ability to renew themselves and come back to life once the winter is over.”
Alessandro Michele
The film is co-directed by award-winning photographer and director Floria Sigismondi and Alessandro Michele, Aria. A singular voice, taking its turn in the spotlight; in the Italian language, ‘air’. In his notes on the collection, the Creative Director calls it “a deep and ecstatic diving in everything we yearningly miss today… a jubilee of breath.” In the year of Gucci’s centenary, Alessandro Michele opens the locks of history, only to find a deeply personal vision of the mythology that surrounds the brand. Standing sentinel is the Savoy Club—a tribute to The Savoy Hotel in London where founder Guccio Gucci worked as a liftboy in his youth. Once inside, a “hacking lab” is unveiled. Incursions and contaminations by elements “pilfered” from House heritage and from Demna Gvasalia, Creative Director of Balenciaga—ultimately expressions of reverence and homage. #GucciAria #AlessandroMichele Music: The soundtrack, by Alessandro Michele and mixed by Lawrence Rothman, comprises a selection of songs featuring the word Gucci, speaking to the staying power of the Maison and how profusely it contributed to the vocabulary of pop culture. Lil Pump “Gucci Gang” (B. Murray / G. Garcia / G. G. Nealy) © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd obo CyPark Songs, Esskeetit Publishing, Cypress Park Music, Tha Lights Global Publishing LLC (P) 2017 Tha Lights Global/Warner Records Inc. / Warner Music Italia Srl Rick Ross feat. Future “Green Gucci Suit” (R. Ross / A. Stewart / N. Wilburn / D. Hayes) © 2018 Universal, Dick James Music Ltd. Irving Music, Inc. Nayvadius Maximus Music, EMI Blackwood Music Inc, 4 Blunts Lit At Once Publishing Licensed by Universal Music Publishing Ricordi Srl., EMI Music Publishing Italia (P) 2018 Epic Records, Sony Music Entertainment, Warner Music Italia Srl Bhad Bhabie “Gucci Flip Flops (feat. Lil Yachty)” (M. McCollum / L. Jae / I. Whitlow / J. Muhammad / L. Porter / D. McCorkell / D. Bregoli / S. Gloade / J. Lowe) © 2018 Ten Down Muzik, Eardrummers Entertainment LLC, Publishing Designee of Samuel Gloade, Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp., Artist Publishing Group LLC, Songs Of Universal, Inc., Boat Boy’s Publishing, BMG Platinum Songs US, Mushie Music, Built By Music, Josiah Muhammad Publishing, Bhabie Publishing Licensed by Warner Music Publishing Italy S.r.l., Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd, Universal Music Publishing Ricordi Srl., BMG Rights Management (Italy) srl, Administration MP Inc., Cafè concerto Srl (P) 2018 Artist Partner Group Inc., Warner Music Italia Srl Mier “Gucci On My Bag” © (P) Jendex Records Die Antwoord, Dita Von Teese “Gucci Coochie” (A. Du Toit / W. Jones / J. Nobrega / L. Muggard / Dita Von Teese) © 2016 Zef Publishing, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd, Universal Music. Corp. Licensed by Warner Music Publishing Italy S.r.l., Universal Music Publishing Ricordi Srl. ℗ Zef Records LLC / AWAL Recordings Ltd Vitalic, feat. David Shaw and The Beat “Waiting For The Stars” (P. Arbez / D. Shaw/ J. Garraud) © 2017 Downtown Music, Square Rivoli Publishing, Budde Music France, Strictly Confidential France, CTZ Publishing Licensed by Dipiu’, Accordo Edizioni Srl The production of this video followed Health and Safety guidelines and Covid-related laws and regulations. Bureau Veritas Italia monitored the set in which animals were present and verify that no animals were harmed.
When Alessandro Michele became Creative Director of Gucci in 2015, he introduced a new narrative, one that includes a remarkable emphasis on words. In that spirit and in celebration of the House’s centenary this year, the invite for the upcoming Aria debut is a book of riddles, puzzles and crosswords revolving around Gucci heritage, past and present.
