Dear Gucci …
First it was gameshow host geek chic.
Then it became 1970’s cowgirl with matching suitcase.
Now it’s this …
Seriously, what the fuck is going on?
I appreciate the fashion industry is – like tech – locked in a cycle of needing to look like it’s always going forward, but apart from the fact this ‘fashion’ looks awfully like it comes from about 20 years in the past, it all counts for nothing if the end result is the sort of thing you’d only seen worn by people play Widow Twankey at the local pantomime.
I appreciate I am to fashion what Lindsey Lohan is to Broadway Theatre, but I can’t help but think even Tesco’s make more appealing fashion than this.
But maybe that’s the point …
You see years ago, we were working with IKEA and as part of our investigation, we went and talked to an interior designer in Miami.
One of the things she told us was how she felt IKEA had made her wealthy clients want more ostentatious looking homes.
When we asked what she meant, she said that the rich have an inherent need to feel there is a clear separation between them and ‘the common herd’ and as IKEA had basically democratised stylish interior design, the wealthy had responded by wanting their houses to look over-the-top to ensure the gap between them and the mainstream was maintained.
In essence, IKEA had pushed the wealthy to look more ridiculous.
With that in mind, maybe that’s what is happening to Gucci.
Because everyday fashion retailers now offer the sort of nicely designed clothes that were once only the domain of the wealthy, the top-end fashion houses feel they need to produce clothes that allow their customers to separate themselves from the masses, even if it means they will look ridiculous as a result.
I seriously daren’t imagine what is next?
A range based on the fashion of Ms Piggy, maybe?
Don’t laugh, it could happen …