Giorgio Armani seemingly slammed the Gucci show

Giorgio Armani has seemingly slammed Gucci for going too far with their shows. (Pic: Bang Showbiz)

Giorgio Armani has seemingly slammed Gucci for going too far with their shows. (Pic: Bang Showbiz)

Published Feb 27, 2018

Share

The 83-year-old fashion mogul hit out at the fashion house for their controversial Milan Fashion Week Autumn/Winter 2018 presentation last week, which saw models walking the runway holding realistic-looking dragons and replicas of their own heads, and insisted its important not to go "overboard" with staging, but to let the clothes do the talking.

Though he didn't mention the brand, or creative director Alessandro Michele, by name, he told WWD: "No, I don't want to be a part of this. Fashion can't be a means to have the media talk about you. We have to move and excite but without going overboard - it's too easy.

"I have never wanted to trick consumers, and what I show on the runway is what customers can find in stores."

Alessandro previously revealed the Gucci show was partly inspired by the 1984 essay 'A Cyborg Manifesto' by Donna Haraway and insisted fashion is about more than just what will sell.

He said: "Limiting fashion to something that only produces business is too easy."

And he explained the severed heads were used to represent accepting the self and "looking after your head and thoughts."

“Through my work I can instigate my audience. To trivialize fashion, limiting it to a jacket or the length of a skirt, is reductive. Fashion is something powerful, which invites us to invent and experiment, and which is born as an answer to the contemporary,” #AlessandroMichele on the #GucciFW18 collection. #mfw Integrated special and visual effects by @makinariumsfxvfx. Tiger head hardware inspired by a vintage Hattie Carnegie jewelry design. Major League Baseball trademarks and copyrights are used with permission of Major League Baseball Properties, Inc. TM, ® & ©2018 Paramount Pictures. All Rights Reserved The SEGA font is used with permission of SEGA Holdings Co., Ltd © Chikae Ide Versions of Stabat Mater by Vivaldi and Giovanni Pierluigi de Palestrina Stabat Mater by Giovani Pierluigi de Palestrina sung by The Tallis Scholars Other Music: Rob Lewis & Emre Ramazanoglu

A post shared by Gucci(@gucci) on Feb 23, 2018 at 6:02am PST

The show itself took place in a room that was decorated to resemble a hospital operating theatre, with green painted walls and hospital equipment lining the runway, and was attended by those who had received invitations sent out in what appeared to be medical waste bags containing timers that counted down to the show's date, along with 'parental advisory' warnings written across the sides. 

Alessandro explained after the show his own job was similar to that of a surgeon.

Presenting the #GucciFW18 show space. The concept reflects the work of a designer—the act of cutting, splicing and reconstructing materials and fabrics to create a new personality and identity with them. The materials used are typical of an operating room and the environment around it: PVC on the walls and floors, fire doors with panic-bars, LED lamps, and plastic chairs like those in a waiting room. The LED lighting is stark, white and blinding. Watch the show live on Instagram Stories or through link in bio at 3PM CET. #mfw

A post shared by Gucci(@gucci) on Feb 21, 2018 at 5:00am PST

He said: "Our job is a surgical job: cutting and assembling and experimenting on the operating table."

Related Topics: