Why a Florence Welch & Gucci Collaboration Just Might Be The Perfect Match

The biggest challenge a celebrity/fashion collaboration can face is finding the right designer/celebrity pairing best that represents each brand’s aesthetic. There here have been many collaborations in the past – some good, some great and some awful (remember the Miley Cyrus/Max Azria disaster), but when a pairing is a match it can be magic. Florence Welch’s recent announcement that she will wear Gucci exclusively for her upcoming “How Big How Blue How Beautiful” tour is being perceived as a match made in Gucci heaven which some chalk up to destiny.

In a recent interview with Vogue, Florence Welch describes her first meeting with Gucci’s creative director Alessandro Michele as a tale of fashion kismet. “We were supposed to meet, … we actually passed each other on the street and checked each other’s outfits out before we officially met,” she said.

There might be something to her statement. A look back early on in her career, Florence was a popular fashion figure topping best dressed lists with her quirky, modern take on hippyish, 70s style. Florence donned colored lace, midi-dresses and heeled brogues in 2008 – years before they became mainstream fashion trends.

Florence Welch (2013) in a vintage velvet dress in London

And when you look at Alessandro Michele’s 2015 Gucci debut of vintage-y mink coats, androgynous suiting, wallpaper florals, tilted berets and geek-chic glasses that evoke the rag-tag glamour of a Wes Anderson film, a Florence Welch/Gucci fashion collaboration does, in-fact, appear destined.

A look from Alessandro Michele’s debut womenswear collection for Gucci (2015). Photo by Imaxtree

Here recently Welch has been named Gucci’s ambassador for watches and jewelry, and the pairing couldn’t be more felicitous. Current creative director Alessandro Michele has stated that the singer is his muse, and he was listening to her album while designing his ready-to-wear collection for Gucci.

Florence Welch (2016) in Gucci with timepiece and accessories. Gucci announced Florence Welch as the 2016 Brand Ambassador for Timepieces and Jewelry on February 12, 2016 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Charley Gallay/Getty Images for Gucci)

Last week on twitter Alessandro Michele released three illustrations of the gowns he intends to create just for his muse. The illustration’s diaphanous gowns closely project the bohemian spirit one associates with Florence’s style and mood.