2024-05-15
Gucci's new autumn/winter collection, presented recently in Milan, has been the subject of much debate, thanks to the theme of the entire show. Some of the models on the catwalk presented not only new fashion sets, but also "cut-off" versions of their heads - while others showed little dragons.
The show discussed here, entitled 'Cyborg', referenced Donna Haraway's 1984 essay 'A Cyborg Manifesto: Science, Technology, and Socialist-Feminism in the Late Twentieth Century'. The trans and post-humanist nature of the show was combined with peculiar motifs that appeared as early as the Renaissance - severed human heads are a clear reference to the motif of Judith cutting off the head of Holofernes - a story depicted by artists such as Lucas Cranach the Elder, Paolo Veronese, Tintoretto and Caravaggio. The small dragons, seen in the embrace of models and models, are a reference to the topos of St Margaret with a dragon, who was depicted by Raphael, among others. Another distinctive motif was the 'third eye’ placed on the faces and wrists of some models, a theme that appeared in Homer's 'Odyssey' and was also a source of inspiration for many Renaissance painters and sculptors.
The fascination with Renaissance motifs can be traced back to the activities of the brand's creative director, Alessandro Michele. Last year, on the occasion of the Resort 2018 presentation, held at the Galleria Palatina in the Palazzo Pitti in Florence, models presented the new collection (fur, brocade and sequin motifs) surrounded by works by masters such as Titian, Raphael and Perugino. A similar theme also accompanied the spring presentation of the collection, as the campaign was inspired by Hieronymus Bosch's work, The Garden of Earthly Delights, which was further transformed into a modern fantasy by Ignasi Monreal.
The premise of the project in question is the representation of a cyborg as understood by the designer; Gucci's cyborg is, therefore, a posthuman creature; there are eyes on his hands, he often appears in duets with small dragons, and faun horns appear on his head. He is a creature that is biologically indeterminate, but conscious of the surrounding culture - he is subject to constant transformation. It is a symbol in which emancipatory values and the ability to decide who we become accumulate.