Gucci to debut cruise show in Arles

(ANSA) - Rome, December 12 - Gucci has announced that it is debuting its 2019 cruise collection show on May 30 next year in the Provencal city of Arles.
    The Italian brand owned by French luxury group Kering and the city of Arles said the presentation will be held at the Alyscamps, one of the most notorious Roman necropolises in the world located just outside the walls and a UNESCO world heritage site.
    Alyscamps was the final resting place of St. Trophimus, who is believed to have been the first Christian bishop of Arles.
    In the late 19th century, the Alyscamps, which has never hosted a fashion show before, and Arles served as the backdrop to some of the most celebrated work of Vincent Van Gogh and Paul Gaugin.
    Gucci's creative director Alessandro Michele has picked culturally meaningful settings for all three of his previous Gucci Cruise collections that also served as an inspiration for his designs.
    His choices were New York's Dia Art Foundation in 2015, Westminster Abbey in London in 2016, and the Palatina Gallery in Florence's Palazzo Pitti last May after the Parthenon in Athens, his first pick, was not available. Michele, an erudite designer who has turned over Gucci since taking its creative helm in January 2015, has widely used historical references, including prints of Britain's Union Jack flag for his cruise lineup in London last year - indicating Alyscamps could inspire his next resort collection itself.
    Luxury fashion houses have been increasingly staging their cruise shows in far-flung, elaborate locations.
    Earlier this year, Louis Vuitton designer Nicolas Ghesquière, who has staged each of his cruise shows at architectural landmarks, debuted his range at the entrance to the Miho Museum in Kyoto, Japan. A suspension bridge on location designed by iM Peiy, who created the Louvre's glass pyramid, formed the catwalk.
    The event was organized days after Christian Dior presented a Georgia O'Keefe-inspired show in California's Santa Monica mountains, and two weeks after Karl Lagerfeld recreated the Parthenon inside the Grand Palais to debut his collection for Chanel. Photo: Pitti fashion show in Florence.