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Shōjo Goes Glam at Gucci Fashion Show
posted on by Jennifer Sherman
Gucci's Fall/Winter 2018-2019 collection debuted at Milan Fashion Week on Wednesday. The show unveiled both men's and women's designs, but a certain look caught the attention of anime fans. The knit sweater on one male model featured the head and shoulders of a girl who looks like she came off the pages of a shōjo manga. The character was complete with the iconic sparkling eyes of shōjo heroines.
Gucci did not reveal the details of what inspired this particular sweater. However, Gucci creative director Alessandro Michele did speak to the press about the general inspirations for and themes of the collection. One main source that influenced the collection was Donna Haraway's "A Cyborg Manifesto" essay from 1984. The cyborg theme was perhaps most visible when two models appeared carrying very realistic recreations of their own heads.
Gucci previously collaborated with Hirohiko Araki and his JoJo's Bizarre Adventure manga in 2011 and 2012 for one-shot manga and an exhibit.
Acclaimed illustrator Macoto Takahashi's artwork found new life on the runway of Paris in last year's Comme des Garcons' 2018 Spring-Summer collection. Louis Vuitton featured The Ghost in the Shell score for the Fall 2017 collection's runway show last March. Louis Vuitton has previously cited Sailor Moon, Ghost in the Shell, and even Akira as inspiration in previous collections. Other anime characters have made appearances on the runway, including JoJo's Kakyoin. Prada "hired" characters from Final Fantasy XIII for its ads. Rei's plugsuit, albeit an altered one, also walked at a Victoria's Secret Fashion Show.
Source: Fashion Press
