Remember When Gucci Sent 68 Pairs of Identical Twins Down the Runway?
Welcome back to Alessandro Michele’s “Twinsburg.”
What better way to celebrate Gemini season than with Gucci’s “Twinsburg” collection?
If there’s one fashion collection that screams Gemini, it’s Gucci’s “Twinsburg” from the Spring/Summer 2023 season. Crafted by the house’s then creative director-Alessandro Michele, the runway show began as any other — with a runway, models and Gucci’s eclectic-chic fashion. But the mid-show reveal would soon elicit a collective gasp that we’d talk about for years to come.
Inspired by his two mothers, Mum Eralda and Mum Guliana, “Twinsburg” primarily focused on reflection and how that intertwines with individual self-expression despite appearing the same. The show leads with twin models matching across the runway, each a reflection of the other. “I am a son of two mothers: mum Eralda and mum Giuliana,” he stated in the show notes.
“Two extraordinary women who made their twinship the ultimate seal of their existence. They lived in the same body. They dressed and combed their hair in the same way. They were magically mirrored. One multiplied the other. That was my world, perfectly double and doubled.”
The fashion house’s creative director added, “Twinsburg plays this game, producing a tension in the relationship between original and copy. As if by magic, clothes duplicate. They seem to lose their status of singularity. The effect is alienating and ambiguous. Almost a rift in the idea of identity, and then, the revelation: the same clothes emanate different qualities on seemingly identical bodies. Fashion, after all, lives on serial multiplications that don’t hamper the most genuine expression of every possible individuality.”
Michele’s fascination with seeing double was hinted at the 2019 MET Gala as Jared Leto arrived with a replica of his head. The moment startled every gala attendee from the Kar-Jenner clan to Salma Hayek. Little did they know, Leto was just the intro and Gucci’s SS23 collection would be the cherry on top.
Take a look at the “Twinsburg” collection above.
While you’re here, dive into Kat the Label’s latest collection.
