MILAN – Gucci creative director Alessandro Michele is celebrating the fashion house’s 100th anniversary this year, giving historic sweep to a collection unveiled virtually Thursday that embraced its equestrian heritage, borrowed references from the Tom Ford era and outright stole from the French sister-brand Balenciaga. “Gucci was born under some kind of constellation, because the power it holds is nearly inexplicable,’’ Michele told a video press conference.
The celebration party was set in a film-set version of London’s Savoy Hotel, where fashion house founder Guccio Gucci got inspiration to return home to Florence and open his own leather goods shop, specializing in travel bags that he had admired working as a bellhop in London.