Gucci to stage next runway in Le Palace nightclub in Paris; but vows to return in Milan

By

Godfrey Deeny

Published
Jul 24, 2018

Gucci will stage its next runway show in Paris on September 24, and has picked the city’s most storied nightclub as the location.

The Florentine house will present its Spring 2019 collection at 9 p.m. inside Théâtre le Palace, which despite its name was the city’s most famous nightclub of the Seventies. A louche locale where waiters dressed in red and gold Thierry Mugler costumes and Grace Jones opened the club appearing on stage in dry ice on a Harley Davidson. The once, after-hours Paris home of Andy Warhol, Mick Jagger, Karl Lagerfeld, Yves Saint-Laurent, Roland Barthes and Jean-Paul Goude.
 
However Gucci, which is owned by the French luxury conglomerate Kering, was at pains to stress that it will return to Milan in February. The show will be the third step in a homage to France by Gucci’s creative director Alessandro Michele. His pre-fall ad campaign references 1968, the year of student revolt in France, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary. These ads, shot by Glen Luchford, show Gucci-dressed radicals occupying a university. Back in May, Gucci also staged its  latest cruise show in Arles, a collection inspired by the Roman empress Agrippina, and staged inside an ancient Roman necropolis, Promenade des Alyscamps.

“Gucci is a unique brands proud of its deep and vibrant Italian roots and also of its visionary French shareholder. So when Alessandro explained his desire to present a new collection in Paris to continue his recipe of French inspiration, I found that the best way to render homage to France,” said CEO Marco Bizzarri.