Alessandro Michele, Gucci’s creative director, got deep about men’s suits and their evolving style direction recently to GQ. Men’s suit styles are changing as men explore different codes and displays of power that find expression in their clothing.
Michele likes to think about how marketing and a tendency to oversimplify still put men in style, gender, and generational boxes. Young or old, formal or casual, male or female. These ideas are out of date. Things seem to have changed a lot, don’t they? He tells GQ,
When our children’s children grow up these [gender] will feel like ancient debates.
He got on to say that on some level, we are just animals who learn to live within these structures. But also, it is clear that our identities and who we are also changes. The most obvious part of this, he explains, is via our clothes. The male world is a symbol of power, and men often speak a language with each other that helps them keep this power. However, this language is already starting to fall apart.
Michele Talks Leaders in Change
Michele states that Harry Styles is one of the leaders in this style change. The collaboration between Styles and Alessandro is well known, with an exclusive collection between the two for Gucci. Michele says that Style has a formidable collection of men’s suits:
from houndstooth to English windowpane. It’s impressive….Harry really represents everything we are saying. If you think about it, what did he do to be somewhat revolutionary and radically change his image? He put on a jacket.
This defies the apparent static nature of the suit, which, as Michele notes, is ‘a universal code, a kind of Bible. It is more potent than any female dress because for everyone it represents power.’ Although destroying that notion of power is ‘almost sacrilegious’, Michele is doing just that, with the help of others like Harry Styles and Jared Leto. The suits of the future will be freer, more expressive of personality, and without the gender or age dichotomies of the past. Vive le revolution!
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