Alessandro Michele’s final collection at Gucci. Shot in the middle of a record breaking hot summer in london. I had the amazing experience to work in this project as both a production assistant upskilling to coordinate and also Assitant Director for the beauty campaign social video and photo. Highlighting the same Cruise 2023 show that the campaign takes its name from, Gucci enlisted photographer duo Mert & Marcus to capture the House’s latest and greatest against a surreal backdrop. In real life, the collection was debuted in front of the Castel del Monte, itself a place of mystique and dramatic allure. Here, interstellar constellations and celestial special effects emblazon the background as Gucci’s garments take center stage, the pieces themselves just as much a star as the ones they’re backed by. It’s all about telling a story, and as the clothes are worked alongside props that suggest themes of poets, scholars, astronomers, philosophers, and mathematicians, the campaign explores the depth of proportions and the mystical story that the runway show oozed. As for the clothes, though, we find some of Michele’s most desirable to date. Ruffles, nods to the Victorian era, 1940s silhouettes and optical illusions taken from a ’70s trip combine with welcomed House tropes and new-classics like the Aphrodite bag. Monograms mix with fisherman stripes on an off-the-shoulder knitted sweater, while metal is cut into sequins and worn over the head like a high-fashion fortune teller. Every detail is magical — the tips of loafers are doused in a snakeskin print, handles on bags double as halos, brooches on a padded poncho drip of ’40s glamor, and an oversized blazer with deep-cut lapels paired with shorts and riding boots veers on the edge of the absurd. Gucci’s Cosmogonie campaign can be viewed above, and expect the collection to filter into stores and regional websites imminently, as well as at various stockists that will also carry some store exclusives.