Opening Milan Fashion Week, the incredible Gucci runway show at Superstudio Maxi. A month of preparation, a galactic project, the best collaborators, an announced enchantment. It couldn't have started better than this.

Opening Milan Fashion Week, the incredible Gucci runway show at Superstudio Maxi. A month of preparation, a galactic project, the best collaborators, an announced enchantment. It couldn't have started better than this.

​​​​​​​Even though we are used to more spectacular setups that transform the large white 'boxes' of our venues into a different Wonderland every time, I was truly enchanted by the metamorphosis of the vast industrial hall of Superstudio Maxi into a luxurious and incredible Palazzo Gucci. It opened its central arena to its privileged guests after a welcome in the entrance hall, greeted with a glass of champagne.

In this imposing space, made round by a more architectural than set design intervention, with the floor covered in moss green carpet-fur, a mirrored runway snaking up and down like a ribbon of black resin, a ceiling reflecting the scene, and hundreds of meters of silk drapery to camouflage the underlying structure of the old factory, with obsessive attention to even the smallest details, the 'Continuum' show began. Adding to the magic was a real orchestra under the baton of Oscar-winning conductor Justin Hurwitz, known for La La Land. A crowd of young, statuesque figures and delicate young women, walking briskly and elegantly, explored the alphabet of Gucci's history. Many outfits, both men's and women's, very different from each other—some severe, others glamorous, some fluid, some structured, in acidic or intense colors—seemed to answer every style and desire, with the guarantee and quality of a legendary brand whose history echoed in details like the clasps, the double G, the bamboo accessories, and the overall elegance.

I nostalgically remembered young Maurizio Gucci, who, while working on the relaunch of his family’s brand, reached out to Flavio Lucchini and me, back then the editors/directors of Donna and Mondo Uomo, the top magazines of the 80s, for advice on which direction to take and which designer to choose. Fate had other plans.

I appreciated how this runway show, a transition towards a new creative direction, sought to respond to the affirmation of today’s youth's individuality, whatever they love, wherever they live, be it West or Far-East. Outside of codified rules and into complete freedom, from the well-behaved classic to provocatively refined nudity, there is a Gucci for everyone.