his morning Gucci released their latest campaign, a film promoting their AW22 collection, directed by Mert & Marcus with art direction by Christopher Simmonds. When the clothes first appeared on the runway in February, the collection was titled ‘Exquisite Gucci’, inspired by the surrealist play of the salons. Thin corpse (known to us Brits as Consequences), reflected in today’s campaign with fragmented re-imaginings of Stanley Kubrick’s best works.
The brand’s creative director Alessandro Michele has masterfully recreated scenes from the legendary film director’s work – bringing together the power of a team to do so. Gideon Ponte is a well-known production and scenographer who has worked on films such as Buffalo 66 AND American Psychowhile the Gucci film includes exact replica costumes by Kubrick’s longtime collaborator Milena Canonero alongside Charlotte Walter.
“I aimed to set the collection in Kubrick’s iconic scenes, where my clothes exist organically in his world, but at the same time feel completely foreign – it’s my homage to cinema and to one of its brightest maestros.” Michele told Vogue.
Since the release of his first film 2001: A Space Odyssey in 1968, Stanley Kubrick’s influence on culture has been limitless. From music to fashion, art and interiors, admiration for the director’s work spans generations and continents.
While Alessandro Michele may be the latest fashion designer to draw from Kubrick’s world, he was far from the first. For decades in fact, designers have used Stanley Kubrick as a reference point for fashion collections, set design and runway soundtracks as well. Below, we list some of the key moments that fashion paid homage to Kubrick.
Alexander McQueen, ‘The Overlook’ Ready-to-Wear AW99
When Alexander McQueen based his AW99 collection on glow it was not the first time the designer referred to horror. Be it the tales of Jack the Ripper, cult film Vampire starvation, Joel-Peter Witkin’s disturbing images or the real-life horrors of 18th-century warfare; McQueen liked to preside over the macabre.
For this particular collection (named The bright ones abandoned by the Overlook Hotel), McQueen turned the runway into the snowy maze that appears in the film’s finale. Ice skate models inside a giant Lucite box, replicating a Victorian snow globe.
McQueen also referenced Kubrick in his SS07 show, Sarabande (after which his foundation is named). And Barry Lyndon (1975)the collection notes also listed Goya and Marchesa Casati as references.
Jean Paul Gaultier & Madonna, Blonde Ambition Tour, 1990
When we think of Jean Paul Gaultier’s (now iconic) costumes for Madonna’s 1990 Blonde Ambition tour, naturally, our minds go first to the cone bra. What we quickly forget is that when paired with braces, hats and canes, Gaultier’s point of reference was unquestionably A Clockwork Orange (1972).
What’s more, this summer Gaultier gave Alessandro Michele a run for his money as fashion’s favorite cinema; creating an exhibition based on the most influential films in his life and career. Held at the CaixaForum in Madrid, ‘Cinema and Fashion’ featured a reinterpretation of the infamous hat and trousers. With a JPG/Madonna twist, of course.
Moschino, Ready-to-Wear AW22
During Milan Fashion Week last season, Jeremy Scott turned his Moschino show into a Kubrick scene, referencing the director’s earliest film. 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968). The set was a replica of what Kubrick called a “provincial French hotel room,” while the clothes were an amalgamation of household items—lamps, vases, trays, clocks. Described by Scott backstage as: “like being in a cage in outer space”.
Incidentally, the original costume designer for the 1968 film was Hardy Amies, best known for his classic tailoring as well as Queen Elizabeth II’s favorite designer.
Louis Vuitton, Ready-to-Wear AW20
Under creative director Nicholas Ghesquière, in 2020 (just as the world was about to enter another sci-fi horror: covid), the closing show of Louis Vuitton’s Paris Fashion Week was an ode to the work of Stanley Kubrick. Milena Canonero was brought in (as with Gucci today) to collaborate with Ghesquière on the collection, the pair working together to develop clothes with a futuristic feel, not unlike the dystopia of A Clockwork Orange (1972).
Louis Vuitton AW20
/ Louis Vuitton AW20CALVIN KLEIN 205W39NYC Ready-to-Wear SS18
Raf Simons’ time at Calvin Klein may have been short, but it sure was sweet. In 2017, for his SS18 show, Simons paid homage to his love of American cinema. The clothes went beyond Kubrick, referring to the likes of Carrie AND Easy Rider. Still, the band (featuring an installation by longtime collaborator Sterling Ruby) gave it a nod glowaxes included.
