Celebrities and high fashion have long shared a mutually beneficial relationship, with each serving to feed the other. Gucci has long aligned itself with emerging and established stars in and out of the realm of Hollywood, but the latest Gucci Love Parade for Gucci SS22 cemented the Italian fashion house’s Hollywood love affair.
Lighting up California’s iconic Hollywood Boulevard, Gucci Love Parade featured a celeb-studded lineup both on and off the runway, making it difficult to tell where the show began and ended. Watching from the front row were the likes of Serena Williams, Miley Cyrus, Tyler the Creator, Billie Eilish, Lizzo, Steven Yuen, Dakota Johnson, Chris Martin, Salma Hayek, Trace Ellis Ross, and Gwyneth Paltrow, with the latter wearing a red velvet suit paying homage to her 1996 MTV VMAs look. Meanwhile, on the runway, former child star Macaulay Culkin made his runway debut alongside seasoned Gucci guy Jared Leto, actors Jodie Turner-Smith and Jeremy Pope, and musicians Phoebe Bridgers, St. Vincent, and Steve Lacy.
In the show notes, Gucci creative director Alessandro Michele attributed his love of Hollywood to his mother who worked in the film industry as a production assistant. “When I started thinking about the way I wanted to celebrate this new chapter in my adventurous job, I thought about mum and her precious legacy, Michele explained. “I thought about the worship of beauty she fed me with. About the indefeasible gift of dreaming and the mythopoetic aura of cinema. This is why I chose Hollywood Boulevard.”
Comprising over 100 looks, the vibe of the clothing itself blended the disco style maximalism Gucci under Michele has become known for with a flicker of Hollywood glamour throughout the ages and elements of Americana. Plucking inspiration from both ends of the spectrum, old Hollywood shines through in luxe silks, feather boas, and fur jackets draped over sheer lace dresses and slinky slips, while an elevated take on tourist attire appeared in the form of Hawaiian style shirting and colourful tracksuits. Tailored satin suits were interspersed throughout the collection, some styled traditionally and others leaning into the sexiness of the Tom Ford era and paired with nothing more than nipple pasties. Elsewhere, visible garters and a variation on fishnet stockings were styled under sheer takes on ‘50s and ‘50s era gowns, while the bike shorts trend appeared in monogrammed knit fabric.
“This boulevard of stars lends perfect support to my uncurbed love for the classical world,” said Michele of the escapist allure Hollywood represented as a boy growing up in the outskirts of Rome. “Hollywood is, after all, a Greek temple populated by pagan divinities.”
Words by AR Staff