Gucci makes abortion rights statement in their latest collection

Gucci creative director Alessandro Michele has made a clear abortion rights message. (Instagram)

Gucci creative director Alessandro Michele has made a clear abortion rights message. (Instagram)

Published May 30, 2019

Share

Gucci creative director Alessandro Michele has made a clear abortion rights message in his latest Cruise collection, as the debate over abortion heats up once again in the United States.

The collection, shown to a VIP crowd Tuesday evening in Rome's Capitoline Museum, featured a purple jacket with the slogan "My Body, My Choice" on the back, and a sweater emblazoned with the date "May 22, 1978," marking the day that abortion became legal in Italy. A belted gown was embroidered with a flowering uterus.

View this post on Instagram

A uterus is embroidered on a pleated long sleeve gown designed by @alessandro_michele, moments before the #GucciCruise20 fashion show at @museiincomuneroma in Rome. This piece reflects the Creative Director’s continuing vision of freedom, equality and self-expression. Since founding @chimeforchange in 2013—the global campaign that represents and advocates for gender equality—@gucci has a longstanding commitment to women and girls by funding projects around the world to support sexual and reproductive rights, maternal health, and the freedom of individual choice. Learn more about the global partners for sexual and family health rights the campaign is donating to in 2019, which can be found in @chimeforchange’s link in bio. #AlessandroMichele #MuseiCapitolini

A post shared by Gucci(@gucci) on May 29, 2019 at 12:01am PDT

View this post on Instagram

Moments before the #GucciCruise20 fashion show unfolding at Rome’s Capitoline Museums @museiincomuneroma, a look with ‘22.5.78’ refers to the date established of the Italian statute for the social protection of motherhood and the voluntary interruption of pregnancy, better known as statute 194. This jacket is created from @alessandro_michele’s continuing vision of freedom, equality and self-expression. Since founding @chimeforchange in 2013—the global campaign that represents and advocates for gender equality—@gucci has a longstanding commitment to women and girls by funding projects around the world to support sexual and reproductive rights, maternal health, and the freedom of individual choice. Because none of us can move forward if half of us are held back. Learn more about the global partners for sexual and family health rights the campaign is donating to in 2019, which can be found in @chimeforchange’s link in bio. #AlessandroMichele #MuseiCapitolini

A post shared by Gucci(@gucci) on May 28, 2019 at 11:28am PDT

View this post on Instagram

‘My Body My Choice’ is a feminist slogan from the 70s which appears on the reverse of this jacket seen before the #GucciCruise20 fashion show by @alessandro_michele. This piece echoes the Creative Director’s continuing vision of freedom, equality and self-expression. Since founding @chimeforchange in 2013—the global campaign that represents and advocates for gender equality—@gucci has a longstanding commitment to women and girls by funding projects around the world to support sexual and reproductive rights, maternal health, and the freedom of individual choice. Learn more about the global partners for sexual and family health rights the campaign is donating to in 2019, which can be found in @chimeforchange’s link in bio. @museiincomuneroma #AlessandroMichele #MuseiCapitolini

A post shared by Gucci(@gucci) on May 28, 2019 at 11:47am PDT

Michele said new restrictions on abortion in the United States "made me consider how much women should be highly respected."

"Sometimes in life choices are difficult, but I believe that it is the most difficult decision for a woman. I respect that decision. I respect that decision as I respect the idea that the uterus is a garden," Michele told reporters after the show.

A recording of his remarks was made available to The Associated Press.

"I wanted to portray the idea that to interrupt a pregnancy does not wipe out the garden, the flower, that is the uterus of every woman," he said.

The designer chose the Capitoline Museums overlooking the Roman Forum in his native Rome as the backdrop for the 2020 Gucci Cruise collection, continuing his dialogue with old-world sites. Gucci Cruise invited the fashion world for its last two editions to the Palatine Gallery at Pitti Palace and the Promenade Des Alyscamps in Arles, France.

The collection presented to a fashion crowd that included such icons as Elton John and Naomi Campbell kept up Michele's exploration of the relationship between the old and the new.

He imagined the show as a bacchanal under the streets of London — that is to say, a place where anything goes. Models strode past the ancient statuary under roaming spot and flashlights. The show opened with a long black skirt and belted top worn with a dramatic, crystal-accented headdress, followed by a red-headed model wearing a quiet pink toga.

A model wears a creation as part of the Gucci cruise collection that was presented at the Capitoline Museums in Rome, Tuesday, May 28, 2019. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

here were Renaissance-style gowns along with draped head-coverings contrasting with prim, plaid wool A-line coats worn with a skewed beret. In one apt juxtaposition, a scantily clad model in a lacy slip dress and flapper hat was followed by a robed figure with a lace judge's collar.

In a nod to his popularity with rock stars, notably Florence Welch, the collection included a Gucci-branded guitar case carried by a pearl-gloved model. Looks were accented with sculptural jewelry featuring Roman gods and wing-shaped sunglasses.

The collection also included T-shirts reading "Chime" for Gucci's Chime for Change charity founded in 2013 supporting reproductive rights, maternal health and the freedom of choice.

Related Topics: