ROME, Sept 27 — In the latest instalment of the video series “In the Studio,” Alessandro Michele, the creative director of Gucci, who has been in that job for just under a year, reveals why he thrives on chaos, the importance of his surroundings to his creative process, and the hardest aspects of his new job. (This interview has been edited and condensed.)
Is this building special?
It’s a Renaissance building from a rich family. It’s one of the few real palaces with Raphael as the architect. It’s quite rare. Gucci took it when my predecessor, Frida Giannini, decided to move the creative office here from Milan. There are no business offices here. Marco Bizzarri, the CEO, stays in Milan. It’s nice to divide our work.
Is it strange to be in a city so far from the rest of the fashion industry?
But I like that. I spend a lot of time in Paris, in Milan and in New York, and Rome is a little bit different. There is something in Rome, incredible, like in a Fellini movie. Everybody’s screaming and laughing very loud. It’s something that can give me more energy in terms of freedom. This is the area of the Rome that is for the bankers. On the other side of the river is the pope.
How did you imagine your office?
If someone had told me, “You will have an office painted from Raphael,” I mean, I didn’t believe it. So I had the perception that I had to put something that I can match with this beauty. Because I love old things. But the first thing I brought in was my giant desk. It’s a double desk. A square desk, so when you sit in front of me, you have the same space that I have on my side. I usually put a lot of books and things around me.
And there is also on the desk a turtle, a real turtle, from the 19th century. I bought it in one of the old bookshops in Rome. I was inside the bookstore one day, and I thought that it was like a little saint that protects the books. So I said, it could be nice for my books to have a turtle.
Did you bring the sofa and chairs, too?
Yes. It’s a sofa that I quite love because there is something very romantic in the idea that you can have a conversation on this sofa. When I have to work alone, to read, to design or look at books, I stay at my desk. But if someone comes to talk with me, I don’t want to stay in the desk because it makes me feel too far away. And also because it makes me feel like I am a banker. So if I have to talk with someone, I stay on the sofa. And if I have to work with creative persons, we go to the big table, which is in another part of my office.
It’s like a giant dining-room table.
I’m usually working with a lot of people. So I wanted something big for all the things that we need to work. My way to think about creation is like the end of the world. I love confusion. So music and image, picture, fabrics, people, person, talk: That’s my way to work. And food. And perfumes. I love perfumes. And flowers and plants, and dresses and vintage. Sometimes something that doesn’t really match with fashion: for example, a dog collar. The table is my mood board.
Talk me through your day.
I arrive between 9am and 9:30am. It depends. My apartment is very close to here. But in Rome it’s very usual if someone meets you on the street, to talk. So I usually talk a lot. I come in the office, have my coffee. My assistants show me what I have to do. And I always say yes. I never say no. If someone wants to do something with me, I don’t want to say no. After, I start to work like crazy, because I have a lot of appointments. We sometimes have three collections at the same moment. It’s not really easy.
What is the hardest thing about your job?
Time. Time is against me. I need more time to work in every single project. This is the first big enemy. The other really hard thing is that I have to show myself. This is quite hard for me. I love to show my work; I don’t like to show myself. I don’t like photos, even from when I was very young. My dad always said, “Please, let me take a picture of you.” But I didn’t like it. It’s strange because now, it’s really part of my job. I have to do the face of the company. At the very beginning, it was a nightmare. The first time I had to go out after the first collection in Milan, I was shocked.
Does this mean all the jewellery you wear becomes like your talismans?
A. I am a collector of jewels, old jewels. One of my favourites is a Georgian ring. One is from my mom. One is from the very end of the 18th century, south of Italy. One I made by myself. It’s a cushion-cut diamond. I love diamonds because diamonds let me dream. But not because they are precious, because they are a testament of the past. They are something you put on you just because you need to remember something, like a marriage, or someone who has died. And they can decorate the way you talk.
The only problem is in the airport, because you know that they have to check everything. When they look at me with all these kinds of ... jewels, they become a little bit nervous. Because it takes, you know, 10 minutes to take off every single piece from my hands. — The New York Times
