Gucci’s ‘Twinsburg’ Collection Was Full of Horror Movie References — and the Holding Hands Trend
There will be plenty of memes to come from Gucci’s “Twinsburg” collection. From the obvious “twinning” mentions to jokes about the faux pas of showing up to a party wearing the same look as someone else, to Macbeth quotes and boundless Halloween references of the frocked twin girls in the scariest scene of Stanley Kubrick’s “The Shining,” the Italian brand’s Friday runway extravaganza at Milan Fashion Week is sure to keep circulating through social media this fall.
But the show also highlighted a movement that has fast become one of the biggest trends in everyday street style: holding hands.
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For the spring summer ’23 collection, Gucci creative director Alessandro Michele paired models with their döppelgangers — or even their actual twins — for what must have been one of the most complicated and challenging runway castings the fashion industry has ever seen.
The multiplicity was there before the show even began, as a step-and-repeat showed celebrity attendees against an LED screen that projected a few angles of the subject against themselves for a Warholian message of celebrity image and status.
“I am me. She is she. Except when I pretend I am her,” spoke a voice as the show began. “And when we switch, you can’t tell which is which.”
Getty Images for Gucci
At first, models walked out to the runway solo, with just a single spotlight in the dark. Dark suits, chaps and garters holding up thigh-high boots, silver nose and face jewelry, pearl necklaces, a new quilted bag were just some of the pieces making up the first looks. The looks became more elaborate as the show progressed, with crystal fringed sunglasses, unisex patterned skirt suits, striped thigh-hight boots, crystal bags in the shape of bears, a sequined tiger print gown and matching turban and gloves, and clear beaded fringe jewelry hanging from the ears.
Halloween-friendly horror movie Easter eggs appeared throughout the show, from a cross body bag in the shape of Gizmo from the 1984 film “Gremlins” to a series of garments that read “Fuori!” — Italian for “get out,” no doubt a subtle reference to the 2017 Jordan Peele film. And a pair of blonde-haired models in floaty blue chiffon gowns felt like a grown-up version of the twins from “The Shining.”
Getty Images for Gucci
Getty Images for Gucci
It wasn’t until near the end of the show that a wall lifted from the runway, revealing to the audience that there was a whole other side to the room — and a near identical model walking. The finale showed the models joining hands with their other half to walk the runway once more, a visual that is already social media clickbait but also a real live trend happening in street style, in which holding hands has been extended beyond the realm of romance or caregiving but a heartwarming gesture of friendship and a sign of increasing confidence in platonic same sex physical intimacy.
Launch Gallery: Gucci 'Twinsburg' Spring Summer 2023 Collection
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