Sandra‘s Closet

Gucci’s red velvet suit. This is one of those iconic pieces. Designed by Tom Ford in 1996, the red velvet suit immediately became a hit. The Gucci F/W 96 show was one of his best collections ever, he said, «it all came together for the first time.» He referenced his own ’90s Gucci collection for his eponymous label for F/W 2019.

Tom Ford F/W 2019

In celebration of Tom Ford-era Gucci—and the designer’s indelible legacy in fashion, it’s no wonder why the brand’s current creative director, Alessandro Michele, chose to revisit one of the House’s greatest hits for the label’s centennial and released the interpretation of Ford’s iconic suit for his F/W 2021 collection.

Gucci Ad F/W 1996

«Gucci becomes for me a hacking lab, made of incursions and metamorphoses,» Michele said in a statement earlier this year when he first released the re-creation to celebrate the House’s 100th anniversary. «An alchemical factory of contaminations where everything connects to anything.»

Gwyneth Paltrow made the red velvet suit famous.

In 1996, Gwyneth Paltrow first wore the red velvet suit, designed by Tom Ford for Gucci’s F/W 96 collection, on the red carpet at the 1996 MTV Video Music Awards and made it famous. Last month, the actress arrived at Gucci Love Parade in Los Angeles, California in the iteration of the suit by Alessandro Michele.

Tom Ford for Gucci F/W 1996

The recent zeitgeist is all about re-editions, so many brands are looking into their archives for inspiration. As much as the fashion world loves all things new, newer, and newest, in those days we cannot resist a good throwback either.

You can shop the Gucci F/W 2021 look now and get a piece of fashion history: Single-breasted cotton-blend velvet suit jacket, and flared cotton-blend velvet suit trousers.

I would have worn this amazing suit to the premiere of the new House of Gucci movie, if I hadn’t been in quarantine. Now, it is up to you to guess if my suit is from 1996 or 2021. As I have always been telling you, don’t throw anything away. The time will come again.

LoL, Sandra

Alessandro Michele for Gucci F/W 2021

Photos: © Gucci / David Biedert Photography
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«The centennial, for me, represents an opportunity to bear witness to Gucci’s eternal vitality that year after year, is reborn, it renews itself, reestablishing an unusual relationship with contemporaneity as a boy, forever young, observing the world with a powerful vision. I recognized the manifestation of its youth in its having intercepted and traversed, for one hundred years now, popular culture in all its forms. Above all, in music: the only medium, aside from fashion, more reactive to the times that mutate and mark the new, the today, the now», Alessandro Michele.

Conceived as a tribute to celebrate the centennial of the Maison, Gucci 100 manifests a deep connection between two universal languages, the language of clothing as an expression of personal identity and the language of music that recalls a collective memory.
It all begins with reflections on a number: 22,705. This is the extensive number of songs in which the word «Gucci» appears among the lyrics from 1921 to date according to Musixmatch, the Music Data Company that manages the world’s largest archive of music lyrics and that has collaborated with the Maison for this research.

«It isn’t a revisionist attempt to rummage through the past: if anything, mine is a ‘reverse’ revisionism of the House’s history, stitched back together by a piercing note, a melody, a refrain. Also because, if I were to depict Gucci, for me it would be an eternal teenager who hangs out at places where music is heard and played», continues Alessandro Michele.

Ready-to-wear and accessories feature the Gucci 100 logo or are adorned with verses from three songs chosen by Alessandro Michele from among the countless tracks that mention the brand: «Music is Mine Gucci Seats Reclined», from the song «The R» (1988) by Eric B. & Rakim, «This One’s Dedicated To All You Gucci Bag Carriers Out There It’s Called You Got Good Taste» from «You Got Good Taste» (1983) by rock band «The Cramps» and «And The Men Notice You With Your Gucci Bag Crew» from Amy Winehouse’s «Fuck Me Pumps» (2003). (© Sony Music Publishing)

The Campaign
Jazz, Psychedelic, Japanese Punk, Disco, Hip Hop, Afrobeat: these genres serve as the musical backdrops to a century-long journey in which a cast of characters moves through an evolution of sounds, harmonies, movements, tastes, and styles. Shot by Joshua Woods under the creative direction of Alessandro Michele, the campaign channels love for life itself, the pleasure of conviviality, the beauty of dance, the overwhelming energy of music, the thrill of performance. Images that manifest, through their «analogic» charm, Gucci’s desire to express optimism and the pleasure of getting dressed as a shared moment of joy and amusement.

The campaign’s finale reveals a scale model of the legendary «Seville by Gucci» Cadillac, a paradigmatic expression of the late ‘70s flair and a testament to the Maison’s forward thinking. Originally produced in a very limited edition starting in 1978, Gucci has collaborated with Mattel Creations to create its first official collectible with Hot Wheels, a 1:64th scale replica of the ’82 model of the Cadillac in a limited edition of 5,000 pieces worldwide.

Blending fashion and music – love it!

LoL, Sandra

Photos: © Gucci #Gucci100
Campaign credits: Creative Director: Alessandro Michele – Art Director: Christopher Simmonds – Photographer & Director: Joshua Woods – Make up: Diane Kendal – Hair: Paul Hanlon