A'NAALA: GUCCI GANG

By Eme Ukpong

Ok Ok. I know I'm not the only one who is more than done with that song. However, if you can look past the infectious rhymings of Lil' Pump for a minute you will see that this post actually does have a purpose.

I don't know if you guys have noticed (lol yes you have) but in the past couple of years, Gucci has made a huge comeback. Thanks to its creative director, Alessandro Michele, the new Gucci is fresh and fascinating. Back in the day when I couldn't afford Gucci, it struck me as a brand for someone who had a strong affinity for khaki i.e boring af. Nowadays, I still can't afford Gucci lol but I see it more as a brand that's all about playfulness and self-expression.

Photo Credit: Ronan Gallagher

A substantial part of the reason why Gucci intrigues me so much as a brand lies very much in its artist collaborations. I'm sure most people will be familiar with the FW16 collection where Alessandro collaborated with New-york based graffiti artist, Trouble Andrew (also known as Gucci Ghost) on pieces which included a stylized spray-painted version of the Gucci logo. It started out with Andrew making two holes in his Gucci bedsheets for a last minute Halloween costume, to him taking on the Gucci ghost persona and tagging his version of the Gucci logo around New York. What probably should have been an intellectual property dispute, ended up being a lucrative collaboration which is, for lack of a better word, wild.

Photo courtesy of Gucci

More recently, Gucci has collaborated with Ignasi Monreal who had worked with the likes of Dior, Swarovski and FKA Twigs. It appears that upon discovering him on Instagram, Michele saw something special. Hence his collaboration with Gucci on ad campaigns for its 2018 Spring collection. Ignasi digitally portrays Gucci merchandise in the style of renaissance paintings in a campaign entitled 'Utopian Fantasy'. It's an incredible juxtaposition of the classicism of the past and Gucci which is proving itself to be a brand that is very much now. The whole idea is quite revolutionary and- correct me if I'm wrong-I do believe this would be the first time a brand has ever released a campaign of this sort.

To all my art lovers out there, it gets better. Monreal's work is full of references and nods to the masters. A lot of which have been brought to my attention by the amazing @Tabloidarthist which you all need to follow on twitter right now (trust me it will change your life).