ANDREA JANKE Finest Accessories: GUCCI Cruise 2016 Presentation in New York

For resort 2016, newly appointed creative director Alessandro Michele chose to set the stage for Gucci on foreign shores, in New York City’s art district. While his history with the Italian house goes back more than a decade (he’s worked on the design team since 2002, when Tom Ford was at the helm), it’s clear that the Roman-born designer is intent on steering the brand in a completely new direction. With crumbling brickwork and antique Persian rugs piled on the floor end to end, the show space in Chelsea on June 4th looked like something out of a Wes Anderson movie, and was a million miles away from a Milanese milieu. As models walked out wearing fifties-style spectacles, pussy-bow blouses, and the kind of cropped vintage-style coats that you might find in Margot Tenenbaum’s wardrobe, a cinematic vision of whimsy and nostalgia started to take shape.

Michele expressed a desire to put sensuality before sexiness with his debut, and his latest offering pushes that new world order further still. Along with knife-pleated lace skirts and frilly chiffon minidresses in faded pastel shades, there were long-sleeved evening dresses that tumbled to the floor in tiered chiffon ruffles with black velvet bows and saccharine-colored corsages at the neck. Movie star of the moment Dakota Johnson was sitting pretty amongst editors and buyers on the front row, and you could imagine her bookmarking many of the standout romantic looks for a red-carpet event come party season. She wouldn’t be the first A-lister to do so either; in fact, many of the most head-turning looks at Cannes came courtesy of Michele’s first collection for Gucci, including a particularly lovely tiered lilac dress worn by Sienna Miller, albeit without the geeky accessories Michele showed last Thursday.

That said, there’s no doubt that Michele has an innate understanding of the codes at the core of the storied leather goods house. Beyond the lace dresses and bomber jackets that were trimmed with the signature red and forest green athletic ribbing, there were traditional lady bags covered in floral motifs, utilitarian monogrammed totes, and sturdy-heeled fringed loafers. In that sense you could say that Michele tipped his hat to Gucci’s heritage in no uncertain terms.

Discover the film 'GUCCI Cruise 2016: A Fashion Story' during this post - enjoy!

LoL, Andrea