Watch the Director’s cut video of the new Gucci Spring Summer ’19 Campaign #GucciShowTime
Text by: Annarosa Laureti
It was the 40s and California was in abuzz! The Sun, the Majors, wonderful women and many possibilities to definitely change one’s own life… in few words a truly Paradise on Earth.
Everybody wanted to be there, in that sparkling fairytale, leaving with no money but with a luggage full of dreams. And among this broke crowd of “Bandini” there were some who shined in their own light: the Hollywood stars!
For this Spring Summer 2019 Campaign, Gucci fashion director Alessandro Michele with the photographer Glen Lunchford took us back on those magic days of Star system, not without provoking criticism (of course).
The magic duo – that seems not to miss a beat – took inspiration from that Hollywood Universe too much affine to Gucci’s codes: glamour, pomp, theatricality, opulence, irony, and a bit of eccentricity of course, are the main concepts of a common vocabulary.
Mentioning movies such as Cover Girl (1944), An American in Paris (1951), Singin’ in the Rain (1952), The Band Wagon, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953) and There’s No Business Like Show Business (1954), #GucciShowTime was launched throughout a series of videos and images representing both stage and backstage scenes as well as balck and white portrait pictures from the vintage allure.
Like truly spectators we are invited to attend an enchanting premier, that of the Gucci Musical Movie, preceded by funny clips about hypothetical red carpet interviews.
To the showman screaming “Ladies and gentlemen welcome, welcome… It’s show time”, the tends of an Hollywood studio unfold to present amusing characters singing, dancing tip tap, and amazing group choreographies on the note of the song “There’s No Business Like Show Business” by Irving Berlin. It cannot miss the director, the producers as well as the entire troupe filmed at work.
A joyful atmosphere in Technicolor that has no choice but affecting all of us.
Despite the irresistible sparkle, the video was critized by some because of the lack of ethnical diversity. Surely an almost entirely white casting is a risky choice in times like ours that see the Fashion world always more careful to concepts like inclusion and cross-culturalism.
On the other hand, we have to consider the strong attention to pluralism demonstrated in recent years by Gucci, that realized campaigns and collaborations like the one dedicated to Dapper Dan’s world. So we may justified such a hazardous pick as it’s made in the name of art and its old times’ reality, the “Hollywood Golden Age”, rediscovering those archive images that made, and still continue to, us dream.
Finally Gucci maison exhibit once again its great expertise to create an imaginary on the border between fashion, cinema and narrative, teaching us, eventually, that “There is no business like FASHION Business!”.
#GUCCISHOWTIME
CREATIVE DIRECTOR: Alessandro Michele
ART DIRECTOR: Christopher Simmonds
PHOTOGRAPHY/DIRECTION: Glen Luchford
HAIR STYLING: Paul Hanlon
MAKE-UP ARTIST: Isamaya Ffrench
IMAGES&VIDEO:
AN AMERICAN IN PARIS: TM & © Turner Entertainment Co. (s19)
SINGIN’ IN THE RAIN: TM & © Turner Entertainment Co. (s19)
THE BAND WAGON: TM & © Turner Entertainment Co. (s19)
GENTLEMEN PREFER BLONDES © 2019 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation.
THERE’S NO BUSINESS LIKE SHOW BUSINESS © 2019 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation.
COVER GIRL © 2019 Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
MUSIC VIDEO: “THERE’S NO BUSINESS LIKE SHOW BUSINESS” di Irving Berlin © Berlin Irving Music Corp.
Courtesy of Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation
