Cosmogonie on the catwalk: Gucci shows in Castel del Monte

Everything is written in the stars. Gucci Cosmogonie, the collection presented yesterday in Castel del Monte, in Puglia, Alessandro Michele brings together elements at first sight distant and scattered, just like the stars in the sky. References, references, quotations that, almost by magic, connect, assemble, are recomposed in a narration that spans centuries, geographies and languages.

There are the constellations, projected on the walls of the ancient medieval fortress and reproduced as sparkling embroideries on dresses and coats; there is the story of Walter Benjamin, philosopher, literary critic, collector of quotations, as Michele defines him; there is the bond of friendship and deep union between Benjamin and Hannah Arendt, who shared a fate of exiles when, both Jews and Germans, fled Germany to meet in Paris in the 1930s and, later, in Portugal to attempt a escape route to the United States; there is Castel del Monte, built in the 13th century by Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor, on a hill in the western Murgia chain, place full of symbolism and history which is the backdrop to the spectacular parade.

In front of a parterre of international and local celebrities – Lana del Ray, the Maneskins, Elle Fanning, Paul Mescal, Dakota Johnson, Alessandro Borghi and Emma Marroneamong others – the magic has been accomplished.

SCROLL TO THE BOTTOM TO SEE ALL THE GUESTS AT THE SHOW.

It is the magic of Alessandro Michelethe one he got us used to in his years at Gucci, mixing suggestions, merging inspirations, to create something new, current and imaginative.

And it is not difficult to understand the affinity that the Creative Director feels with the figure of Walter Benjaminwhose thought was animated by a dense web of references and references, a thinker able to illuminate otherwise invisible connections, a collector of quotes to the point of making the extreme gesture when he sees himself deprived of them.

Like this the constellations of the collection become a philosophical concept – the same theorized by Benjamin. “The constellation is what results from the ability to establish conjunctions between fragments of otherwise dispersed worlds.” Alessandro Michele explains in the notes on the show. “Thinking in constellations means grasping the synchrony between a specific present moment and an equally specific place in the past”.

And clothes become more than just clothes. They become stories. Stories that can be read in the folds of the fabric, in the precious embroideries, in the myriads of crystals and sequins, in the medieval ruffs and in the layers of chiffon.

And they become a tribute to a kindred soul. “If there is a thinker who has managed to keep things together distant in time and space, rearticulating them into explosive constellations, it is Walter Benjamin. To this man who could not survive without quotations from him, my thanksgiving ».