Yes I’m partly on the Gucci bandwagon. But that wasn’t always the case.

The Gucci brand is probably the most popular fashion brand operating today. Dressing the likes of musical superstars like Harry Styles and BTS, and actresses such as Dakota Johnson and Riley Keough, Gucci is no stranger to celebrity and have been a popular fixture in hip hop lyrics and fashion as well.
Their clothes have been plastered everywhere online including social media threads, fashion campaigns, and of course when people wear their clothes (or knock-offs) out and about. You know; the ones that boisterously show off their brand name, logo, monogram and signature colours.

Every time I’d look at the clothes however, it would just make me think, how ugly and tacky is that? What are those colour combinations? Why is this outfit all sequined and why are we regurgitating the 70’s? Who would want to wear something like this?

The 70’s are totally in however and Gucci’s aesthetic fits in perfectly with the warm and sunny hues of summer, the desire for glitz and glamour, and the need for fantasy, imagination, and escape in these times where a lot of us are stuck inside longing to travel somewhere exotic, exciting, relaxing (anywhere but here really).

As I was diving back into fashion after a loooong hiatus, I preferred the sleek and simple colour palettes and silhouettes of fashion houses like Saint Laurent or Valentino. Either bright pops of colour among muted colours, a look dominated by one bright colour, or cool and withdrawn hues that didn’t call any attention to themselves but you can still see the beautiful tailoring and expensive looking fabrics used to craft the outfit; that was my preference.

And it still is for the most part but as I have been exposed to more of the latest styles and fashion history, past and modern, I have gained a new appreciation and a new understanding for why Gucci is so loved. And where the appreciation started for me was from a rather odd place.

Last year I got into a podcast called Trash Taste that primarily discusses anime and Japanese culture and it was there that I was introduced to a little show called Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure. One of the hosts is a mega-fan of the show and is out to collect all memorabilia and merchandise dedicated to it including their official line of luxury men’s suits and watches. Over the course of the year, I would see and hear them discuss little tid-bits about the show, the characters and their fashion, and how they themselves became more appreciative of fashion in the process of watching the show.

From learning more about the show, the author and illustrator Hirohiko Araki was directly inspired by Italian fashion, magazine editorial spreads, and the poses that the models would strike in those images; and that’s what was carried over to his fantasy adventure manga turned anime series Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure.

• 

• 

• 

What I noticed straight away when watching the show was the the clothes the characters would wear and how it informed their characterisation. But also the variety of fashion. I am still only midway through the second season but the storyline is multi-generational and so far in the show, I have been exposed to fashion from very different decades in time and also different countries and continents.

So this brings me to the crossover with Gucci. Jojo’s creator Hirohiko Araki did in fact do a collaboration with the fashion house Gucci in 2011 to create a graphic novel and an exhibit showing the novel’s artwork as well as the Gucci items featured in the novel.

• 

Through my awareness of the author’s love of fashion and how it influenced his art and storytelling, I slowly started to look at Gucci’s aesthetic past and present and Italian fashion as a whole, with a newfound respect and appreciation.

What I see now when seeing those colour combinations, or the sequins and flowy silhouettes and extravagant trims is the fantasy element of the clothes, the joy and vibrancy of the colours and patterns used, and how they create an almost surreal, whimsical and fantastical atmosphere by someone wearing these ridiculous clothes in today’s world. Today, I see Gucci fashion as a beacon of hope (not to be too dramatic) and something fun that catches the eye in a world that has been pretty grim as of late.

So here I am, embracing the ridiculousness, the bizarre and ridiculous 😉