The Gucci Gold Ears

Oversized 24-karat gold pieces covering ears and, in some instances, one eye. One of most astonishing jewelry accessories for the next Fall/Winter 2019-20 were spotted on Gucci latest runway show, which took place last week at the Gucci Hub, in Milan. Gucci creative director Alessandro Michele created goldsmith masterpieces inspired by the work of Eduardo Costa, giving to all us the chance to rediscover an old but very interesting project. In 1966, the avant-garde, conceptual artist created the Fashion Fiction series: a collection of 24-carat gold jewelry creations made in the shape of body parts cast from the bodies of the people who would wear them. For Costa, the works were “not real jewelry but a set of props invented to trigger the fashion photographs”. Alessandro Michele has revived one of his works, a piece photographed by Richard Avedon and worn by the model Marisa Berenson for Vogue, in 1968. The fashion designer’s idea was to play with the dual nature of a look, which coyly hides the ears, while exposing them more by drawing in the eye. «I try to stay far from politics, but fashion is part of the culture that comes at you, without needing to go into a book shop. Perhaps unconsciously my work is a political act with which I try to defend myself from those who want to take culture away from me,» Michele said.