Starting next year, Gucci will be combining its men’s and women’s shows into one runway. President and CEO Marco Bizzarri announced the new show format at his keynote speech at the New York Times International Luxury Conference in Versailles today. That means that creative director Alessandro Michele will present one collection each season. Michele’s collections for both women’s and men’s, particularly the latter, have often blurred gender lines as it is and its an ongoing theme in modern fashion and culture.
“It seems only natural to me to present my men’s and women’s collections together,” said Michele in a press statement. “It’s the way I see the world today. It will not necessarily be an easy path and will certainly present some challenges, but I believe it will give me the chance to move towards a different kind of approach to my story telling.” It will certainly cut costs to show two collections in one. But despite the change in show format, Gucci continues to maintain that it will not adapt to the new “see now, buy now” model that some luxury labels have adopted recently in an effort to meet consumer demands.
“Alessandro Michele has in fact always presented his men’s and women’s collections together, so this is a very natural progression,” said Bizzarri. “Moving to one show each season will significantly help many aspects of our business. Maintaining two separate, disconnected calendars has been a result of tradition rather than practicality.”