Creative director of Gucci
In January 2015, Marco Bizzarri asked Michele to act as interim creative designer for the January menswear show, giving him a week to reshape Frida Giannini's original designs.[14] Michele accepted the challenge and introduced a “new Gucci: nonconformist, romantic, intellectual”.[15] Two days later, Kering appointed Alessandro Michele creative director of Gucci, with the goal to reinvent Gucci's props amid deflating sales.[16] A month later, Michele introduced a "sophisticated, intellectual and androgynous feel" for Gucci during his first women's collection show.[3] While creating iconic products, such as the Dionysus handbag,[17] Michele also reintroduced Gucci classics including the double-G logo.[18] He moved away from Tom Ford's "Sexy Gucci" props[19] and feminized Gucci's menswear ("you can be more masculine showing your femininity").[20] He reused the "My Body My Choice" slogan, the embroidered uterus design, and the "22.05.1978" date (the date on which abortion became protected by Italian courts),[21] transforming the brand into a postgender proposition.[22] He added a dramatic Renaissance component to Gucci's spirit,[23] replaced the modernist furniture of the Palazzo Alberini-Cicciaporci (Gucci's design headquarters in Rome) with antiques,[6] and chose buildings of historic significance for his theatrical shows.[24]
In 2016, for the Gucci Museum in Florence, Michele curated two additional rooms dedicated to Tom Ford's collections.[25] Since the 2018 opening of the Gucci Wooster Bookstore in New York, Michele seasonally contributes to the curation of the shop's items.[26] In October 2018, he co-curated with Maurizio Cattelan the 2-month Gucci art exhibition "The Artist is Present" in Shanghai.[27]
In 2019, Michele revived Gucci's Beauty collection,[28] and Gucci launched its first fine jewelry collection, which he designed.[29]
In March 2024, Michele was appointed as the creative director of Italian fashion house Valentino.[1] His appointment follows the departure of Pierpaolo Piccioli, who had worked at Valentino for 25 years.[30]
