Scrawled across a T-shirt bearing the Gucci stripe and interlocking GG motif is the wistful confession, “I want to go back to beliving a story”. In the same offbeat lettering, a black tote-backpack asks apprehensively: “What are we going to do with all this future?” These are just some of the many eclectic pieces from Gucci’s new capsule collection with Coco Capitán.
If the name rings a bell, that’s because this isn't the first time 24-year-old Capitán has collaborated with Gucci; the Spanish artist’s handwritten aphorisms first appeared on tank tops at the brand’s Fall/Winter 2017 runway show, as well as on Creative Director Alessandro Michele's t-shirt as he made his closing bow. Guests of the Gucci show space in Milan were also introduced to one of Capitán’s text-based artworks displayed on a wall as they entered the show space.
Like the collaborators who preceded her (such as graffiti artist GucciGhost and illustrator Angela Hicks), Capitán’s work bears all the witticism and quirkiness that caught the attention of the Italian fashion house in the first place. The capsule collection marries her witty and ironic take on the world with Michele’s aesthetic of contemporary, eclectic Romanticism – comprising of casual, unisex pieces such as sweatshirts, t-shirts, hoodies, backpacks, coats, and belt-bags that form the canvas for Capitán’s naïve-looking handwritten messages.
The collection will be released globally in selected Gucci stores and online later this month. To commemorate the launch, Gucci recently unveiled a new instalment of its on-going Art Wall project. Capitán’s work adorns a 2,500-square-foot wall on both Lafayette Street in New York, and Milan’s Largo la Foppa, bearing the messages ‘What are we going to do with all this future?’ and ‘Common sense is not that common’.
