How Gucci reimagined Renaissance art for ‘Utopian Fantasy’ collection
Brand’s creative director Alessandro Michele and Spanish artist Ignasi Monreal inspired by iconic paintings to help launch its spring/summer 2018 collection
Today is more than 400 years since the Renaissance period – a time from the 14th century to the 16 century which saw a revival of European art and literature under the influence of classical models.
We may be in an age of algorithms and infinite scrolling news feeds, trapped in pursuit of novelty, but, through it all, Italian luxury brand Gucci has reminded us of the power and the timelessness embodied by Renaissance art.
Gucci’s creative director Alessandro Michele collaborated with Spanish artist and digital illustrator Ignasi Monreal on the fashion brand’s “Utopian Fantasy” spring/summer 2018 campaign.
Montreal’s unorthodox fashion campaign combined hyperrealism with surreal art, with his illustrations – including a group of Gucci girls floating above the clouds in from of St Peter’s Basilica – re-imagining famous artworks with the characters all dressed in Gucci creations.
The campaign brought the topic of art history to the forefront of the fashion internet. To revisit this time period feels refreshingly strange in a culture of impermanent imagery and fleeting consumption
Yet, perhaps we find comfort in the idea of longevity, or are simply looking to a new outlet for escapism and fantasy. Or, is it a way of rebelling against fashion’s fixation on newness and shifting trends?