Gucci’s Cruise 2019 show was inspired by a ‘rave in a cemetery’

The runway was on fire, literally

(Getty Images)

Gucci is no stranger to defying conventions but if you thought autumn/winter 2018’s offering of severed heads, extra eyeballs and baby dragons couldn’t be topped you’d better think again because this time round Alessandro Michele’s vision extended to the inevitability of death – church bells, skeletons, graveyards et al.

Following in the footsteps of Dior and Louis Vuitton, the design house became the third big name to show its Cruise 2019 collection in France, transporting in excess of 400 guests to the Provençal city of Arles.

But, instead of opting for yet another predictable runway setting, the likes of Saoirse Ronan, A$AP Rocky, Salma Hayek and Christian Lacroix were seated in an ancient Roman cemetery.

Perhaps the most unpredictable place for a fashion show, Michele’s choice of location was no accident. It was merely a macabre backdrop for an even more morbid collection.

“The inspiration is an ossuary, the crypts of the cardinals, of the monks in the 15th century, and the precious decorations,” Gucci quoted Michele on Instagram.

“This idea is that everything that is linked to the afterlife is accompanied by something of maximum beauty.

“It’s the idea of death as fascination.”

As night fell and guests took their places on mirrored cubes, a line of fire ignited the runway to signal the start of the show before a funereal procession of 114 models walked through a thick veil of smoke.

Aside from a scattering of staples that are sure to fly off Gucci’s shelves, the show was teeming with deathly details from rib cage-embroidered dresses, to symbols from ancient graves, rosary chokers and even a glittering mask made of tights that made reference to ancient death masks.

Elsewhere, gothic accents and passages from The Divine Comedy shrouded clothes before a Gucci bride dressed in a white, high-collared Victoriana gown walked the fire-lined runway wielding a blooming bouquet of peonies and a heavy cross pendant round her neck.

Severed heads? Not quite, but Michele’s fascination with the costuming of death undeniably dominated every aspect of Gucci’s graveyard.