2018 was the year that Gucci cemented itself as a global Creative Fashion powerhouse. Gucci’s market dominance is evident everywhere you look but my personal intrigue in Gucci doesn't come from its financial success or its record sales. For me what is most inspiring is Gucci’s transformation from a brand with a dated philosophy and tired aesthetic to one which is embracing the avant-garde. Hyped brands come and go but its worth celebrating Gucci as a creative leader who seem to be reaping the benefits of thinking outside of the box and challenging the status quo when it comes to marketing its collections.
This daring attitude has been most evident in Gucci’s Spring/Summer advertising campaign. Under the guidance of Alessandro Michele, Gucci’s creative team enlisted the assistance of Spanish Artist Ignasi Monreal. Monreal quickly got to work transforming classic artworks in his typical surrealist style to promote one of Gucci’s most dynamic capsule collections of 2018. The collaboration resulted in the #Guccihallucination campaign.
Drawing from Renaissance portraiture Monreal has re-imagined Greek and Roman Mythology for the modern age. This modernisation of the Renaissance art style has complimented Gucci’s maximalist creative direction perfectly.
Monreal paintings have found there way onto web, print and POS graphic campaigns but whats more surprising is that they have found their way into more ambient advertising campaigns. If you can call 20ft murals ambient! These murals have been a particular favourite of ours here at Eyesite Opticians.
Monreal has clearly thrived under the creative freedoms afforded by Gucci and it is clear that the partnership has been mutually beneficial. It would be unfair to say that the work is simply clever advertising for the various Gucci products present in the 2018 collection. For me its refreshing to see a huge brand not rest on the tried and tested methods of promotion i.e. Attractive cool model in XYZ garment, or even XYZ famous attractive person adorned in Gucci.
Monreal’s work has given permanence to the collection in a way that only paintings can and the collaboration has cemented Gucci as a creative forward thinking fashion powerhouse.
