The end of an era: Alessandro Michele quits at Gucci

Nfter almost eight years as chief designer, Alessandro Michele is leaving Gucci. This was announced by the Italian brand, which belongs to the Kering group, late on Wednesday evening.

The forty-nine-year-old, who has worked for the fashion house since 2002 and has been at the creative helm since January 21, 2015, is one of the most important fashion designers of the present day. His romantic, playful style, which sought to abolish gender boundaries, was immensely influential. With his spectacular fashion, he helped to multiply the sales of the fashion house to almost ten billion euros per year and to raise Italian fashion economically to the level of major Parisian competitors such as Louis Vuitton and Chanel.

“Alessandro Michele has been instrumental in making the brand what it is today through his groundbreaking creativity,” Gucci wrote in the statement. No word has yet been given on a possible successor.

“Today an extraordinary journey ends for me”

In an emotional post on Instagram, Michele wrote in English and Italian: “There are times when we part ways because each of us has a different perspective. Today ends for me an extraordinary journey that has lasted more than 20 years, in a company to which I have tirelessly dedicated all my love and creative passion. During that long time, Gucci was my home, my adoptive family. To this extended family, to everyone who has cared for and supported them, I send my sincerest thanks, my biggest and deepest hugs. Together with them I wished, dreamed and imagined something. Without them, none of what I have built would have been possible.”

Numerous designers, influencers, critics and models commented on the post, which received more than 315,000 likes by Thursday morning. “Thank you for your designs and for sharing your dreams with us, and thank you for nurturing young creatives from Africa and emerging markets,” wrote supermodel Naomi Campbell. In a dedicated Instagram post, fashion critic Suzy Menkes wrote: “How much fun I had with Gucci’s dynamic Alessandro Michele! Gone are the days when crazy accessories dominated understated clothing?”

Alessandro Michele, who was born on November 25, 1972, turns 50 on Friday, grew up in Rome. His father was a technician at Alitalia, his mother an assistant to the manager of a film production company. The artistically gifted boy studied fashion design at the Accademia di Costume e di Moda in Rome, where he also designed theater costumes.

After several years at the knitwear company Les Copains in Bologna and at Fendi (under Silvia Venturini Fendi and Karl Lagerfeld), the then creative director Tom Ford brought him to Gucci in 2002. In 2006 he was appointed chief designer for leather goods there, and in 2011 he became deputy to the then design chief Frida Giannini. Since 2015, he has surpassed her rather reduced style with his imaginative, lush designs, which shaped a small era in fashion history.