Gucci’s creative director Alessandro Michele constructed a true parallel universe on the Milan runway with a surprise theatrical reveal.
For his Spring-Summer 2022-23 collection dubbed Twinsburg, Michele staged side-by-side shows inside the Gucci Hub, each unbeknownst to the other, until a wall lifted, revealing twins in identical looks in synchronic stride.
For the final walkthrough, the 68 sets of twins met in the center, grasping hands and reuniting for the final walkthrough.
The reveal was so powerful, so unexpected, that normally jaded fashionistas could be heard confessing after that they had been brought to tears.
“I was crying too. I don’t really know why,” Michele said backstage. “I don’t cry often but maybe it was appropriate at the end for me to cry because it was very intense.”
“I think it is much more complex doing this job now. There are times when I ask myself, why am I doing this? Somebody is talking about nuclear war. Politics is a catastrophe. The situation on the planet is a disaster,” Michele added. “But as human beings the only weapon we have is to imagine something else, and to make it happen.”