Gucci’s Cruise ’20 Collection Was a Call to Action
After a captivating presentation in Rome yesterday, Gucci continues to dominate the cultural conversation with its Cruise 2020 collection. The Italian designer hit all the appropriate marks for an inclusive and political show in 2019: reproductive rights took center stage, while the label’s embrace of gender fluidity and sustainability efforts were all embedded throughout the presentation — the cherry on top was an exclusive performance by the legendary Stevie Nicks and Gucci’s unofficial mascot Harry Styles.
Since Alessandro Michele took over the label in 2015, the public has come to expect opulent and theatrical collections that are as clever as they are excessive. Michele has a talent for taking cultural references and elevating them to new contemporary heights through his idiosyncratic perspective — past collections have paid homage to institutions as niche as feminist scholar Donna Haraway (Fall ’18) to the more universally recognized New York Yankees (Pre-Fall ’18). But for its latest, the designer opted for a more timely statement by acknowledging the recent attacks on reproductive rights (most likely Alabama’s plan to ban all abortion). Some looks were as blatantly pro-choice as a suit with a print that read “My Body, My Choice,” while others were more subtle in their execution, like a scarf with “22.05.1978,” aka the date a law that protected legal abortions in Italy was put into effect, printed on it.
Gucci has never shied away from voicing its political stance. Last year the brand donated $500,000 to the March for Our Lives and sent a team of representatives to march alongside the young gun-control activists. But rather than launching a full-on spectacle, the lavish designer showed its solidarity with a cause in a way that seemed sincere rather than pseudo-woke spectacle. And quite simply, the clothes spoke for themselves.
