Initial reaction:

After Frida Giannini's departure, it was announced shortly before the show that the collection she’d been working on had been entirely replaced in a matter of days by the rest of Gucci’s existing design team, led by the brand’s head accessories designer Alessandro Michele. And from the moment a red chiffon pussy bow blouse with delicate little buttons down the back walked out onto the runway we knew this was going to be a very different Gucci experience. 

The new era:

Gone was the glitzy nightclub vibe and the runway’s signature spotlight and instead, a young poets society of lanky, long-haired boys and girls shuffled along a stripped-back metal bridge on fur-lined horsebit loafers with the heel removed, slipper style, to emulate a pair of carelessly worn-out shoes. It was soft and romantic, with flounces of princely nude ruffle collars whispering of Gucci’s seventies legacy and its rock 'n' roll affiliations but also of Italian renaissance nobility, clad in painterly colours and mink-cuffed coats. There was roaring applause as the models came out for the finale, and by the time the team appeared from backstage to take their bow, scores of people were on their feet to give them a standing ovation. And the Michel Gaubert-masterminded soundtrack? It was the beautiful, heartbreaking score from Tom Ford’s A Single Man. Make of that playful nod what you will considering the rumours swirling that Ford might be returning to the house, but one thing's certain: all eyes will be on Gucci this week as the announcement of its new creative director is apparently imminent.  

Gender play:

It was interesting to see Gucci join the gender conversation not only with the cast of boys and girls but also with the collection’s gender-blurring pieces. "A dreamy ambiguity," the show notes read, and while this is hardly a new move in fashion, it had a quiet, emotional beauty here – in embroidered lace tunics that betrayed naked, boyish chests – that made it a lovely thing to behold.