Milan Fashion Week 2023: Gucci menswear goes back to basics for autumn/winter after Alessandro Michele’s exit, from papery tops to a rock ‘n’ roll vibe – with Kai and Idris Elba in tow

Jan 16 , 2023

A model presents a creation at the Gucci autumn/winter 2023/2024 menswear show in Milan, Italy, on January 13. Photo: Reuters

Gucci returned to the runway under a new direction after its split from Michele, quietly recasting the understated codes of the brand in its menswear collection on January 13, at Milan Fashion Week

Marc Ribot’s Ceramic Dog performed live as models strutted in oversized jackets, bright cowboy boots and striped rugby shirts, with front-row guests like Nick Cave and Wednesday’s Percy Hynes White

Gucci offered another January surprise to kick off Milan Fashion Week menswear previews on January 13, taking a new direction after Alessandro Michele’s exit as creative director.

Models present a creation at the Gucci menswear show in Milan, Italy, on January 13. Photo: Reuters

Very much like Michele’s low-key debut eight years ago heading an in-house team, the Gucci runway show heralding the new post-Michele era was an understated affair, quietly recasting the codes of the brand founded in Florence more than a century ago as a luggage company.

Gucci’s menswear show in Milan, Italy, on January 13, marked a new era for the luxury brand after creative director Alessandro Michele’s departure last year. Photo: Reuters

Under Michele, fantasy took flight with ever-escalating showmanship and layers of embellishment in romantic collections that blurred gender barriers and intellectually challenged the fashion crowd with notes referencing sometimes obscure thinkers.

A model wears a colourful creation at the Gucci menswear show in Milan, Italy on January 13. Photo: Reuters

Those embellishments have been stripped, at least for now, with an easy-to-read collection.

Gucci launched its post-Michele era with a palette-cleansing collection that carried whiffs of his influence, but which went in a strikingly new, and spare, direction.

Gucci’s men’s autumn/winter 2023-24 fashion collection went back to basics for its debut in Milan, on January 13. Photo: AFP

Stripped of eccentricity, the collection returned Gucci to a set of basics with a rock ‘n’ roll vibe underpinned by a live performance by US guitarist Marc Ribot’s Ceramic Dog in the centre of the circular theatre. Front-row guests included Nick Cave with his wife Susie, Canadian actor Percy Hynes White, who appears in the Netflix hit Wednesday, UK actor Idris Elba and South Korean singer Kai.

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