If you were hoping that Gucci would reveal a new creative director at the end of the autumn/winter 2023 menswear runway show—like how former creative director Alessandro Michele was introduced to the world—it was unfortunately not the case.
Instead, the Gucci autumn/winter 2023 menswear collection was conceptualised as a collaborative freestyle by “the multi-faceted creatives and craftsmen who inhabit the house of Gucci”; an improvisation in the wake of a transition, if you will.
It may seem quite unfair then to judge a collection that’s created in the interim (Gucci has yet to announce a new creative director; assuming it will) because while it may be true that the autumn/winter 2023 menswear collection was crafted by individuals who’s been at Gucci for a long time, it did feel a bit directionless. And that’s, quite honestly, to be expected.
The show opened with the plainest of looks: a wide-neck white T-shirt tucked into a pair of wide-cut trousers, that seemed to embody a clean slate that the collection was attempting to portray. A great majority of the looks after were the most minimalist we’ve seen from Gucci in the past 7 years. Opting to focus on languid cuts and pastel colour-blocking instead of archival prints or heavy-handed monograms, the autumn/winter 2023 menswear collection was teeming with elevated plays of wardrobe staples. It felt like there was an idea of a complete Gucci wardrobe—from scoop-neck tees to denims in a range of cuts to a stiff leather jacket trimmed with shearling—but lacked cohesion visually.
However, that didn’t mean that the collection didn’t have its triumphs.
What Gucci has always excelled in is in its tailoring and the autumn/winter 2023 menswear collection displayed this to full effect. It’s evident in the collection’s oversized blazers (looks 3, 12 and 19) as well as its almost floor-grazing coats (looks 10, 22 and 48). Look 25’s blazer with sculpted sleeves was a masterful piece, albeit a random, jarring one.
It also wasn’t completely a stark departure from Michele’s repertoire. I especially appreciated that Gucci decided to continue blurring traditional notions of masculinity through nipple-baring T-shirts, skirt-like trousers as well as an overall sense of flou. It’s what made Gucci a force in fashion and to turn back to archaic menswear tropes would only be a disservice to itself and fans who’ve come to see Gucci as a more mainstream safe space.
If the ready-to-wear portion was a relatively clean slate, the accessories were reiterations of Gucci heritage and icons. Accessories took on forms signature to the house—the Horsebit, the Piston Lock, and the Cross—as bracelets, necklaces and hardware on bags. The Gucci webbing saw renewed importance as evident on the introduction of the Crystal GG canvas, a lacquered version that’s shinier than ever, as well as under the Horsebit on the house’s Princetown slippers.
There was also a motorcycle boot rendered in a multitude of colours introduced as the footwear of the season. It’s soft and quilted but cuts slightly mid-calf. It looked a bit clunky on the runway and probably won’t be flattering on a number of body types.
But then again, this is a collection in transition; we probably won’t be seeing it past the autumn/winter 2023 season.
View the full Gucci autumn/winter 2023 menswear collection in the gallery below.
