Discover the surreal Gucci artist inspired by Spirited Away

The end of the year is fast-approaching but Gucci has not let that slow down its output, yesterday announcing its new gift-giving campaign.

Since Alessandro Michele took over the helm of the Italian house, it has been known for its giant collections that are a melting pot of inspirations – look no further than SS18, which included references from Bugs Bunny and Elton John to Marlboro cigarettes. To cut through the holiday season noise, they reached out to Spanish artist Ignasi Monreal for a collaboration.

Inspired primarily by Greek mythology, the resulting digital artworks mirror Michele’s love of divergent references and feature items from Gucci’s covetable collections. The artist’s vibrant images reimagine the space around Gucci’s HQ in Milan, as well as paying homage to films like Spirited Away and British subculture’s very own mods.

The artist has previously worked with the Italian fashion house on its #guccigram project and more recently the Cruise 2018 show in Florence that featured t-shirts and sweaters with his illustrations. He’s also teamed up for other fashion collaborations with a number of brands, and has an ongoing partnership with FKA twigs – creating visuals for her “Two Weeks” video as well as merch. 

In addition to a digital catalogue, the campaign will also be interactive via Gucci’s store windows, coming to life when scanned on the Gucci app. Monreal will also take over art walls in New York and Milan. Read some more about his inspirations below...