Meet the 24-Year Old Artist who Collaborated with Gucci for F/W17
Amidst the 120+ looks in Gucci’s Fall/Winter 2017 men’s and womenswear collection were a few tees - including one worn by creative director Alessandro Michele - bearing scribbled messages, such as “Common sense is not that common” and “I want to go back to believing a story.” They are the result of the Italian design house’s latest artist collaboration, which saw Michele tapping photographer/artist Coco Capitán to take her hand to some of the F/W 2017 wares, namely the house's wildly popular (and pricey) logo tees.
The 24-year old Spanish-born, London-based Royal College of Art graduate is far from a fashion unknown. In fact, she has enjoyed quite a bit of mainstream success over the past several years, ranging from spreads in Dazed, Garage, VICE, Teen Vogue, i-D, Self Service, and various Vogues, among other publications to collaborations with fashion houses like Maison Martin Margiela, Miu Miu, Paco Rabanne, and Mulberry. Still yet, she staged her first solo show, Let Me Not Introduce Myself the Pleasure Is Yours, at London's Display Gallery in 2014.
This is, however, her biggest break when it comes to her writing, which adorns her Instagram account, website, and a few of her editorials. (Note: She was not responsible for the art associated with Drake’s “If You're Reading This It's Too Late” album, even though the type appears to be quite similar).
Speaking of her own inspirations, Capitán cites, "a good Richard Avedon group portrait in studio, Corinne Day in the 90s, Steven Meisel before it became so glossy, a Juergen Teller goes-and-sees, Oliviero Toscani for Benneton, Comme des Garçon’s advertising, Ryan McGinley’s naked bodies," as guiding forces. As for her own work, which she calls "messy, persistent, contemplative," Capitán says her aim is to "find what makes something interesting while dismissing beauty and commercial standards."
In terms of her Gucci collaboration, it is not limited to the runway. The space outside of the show in Milan consisted of large scale graffiti, which reads, "What are we going to do with all this future?," an existing one of her works that Gucci opted to use for F/W17. Capitán calls it her “first 'legal' graffiti, made 'legal' by Gucci.”
If the brand’s pre-existing collab with New York-based street artist Trevor Andrew - aka Gucci Ghost - is anything to go on, chances are, Capitán’s work will see the sides – and insides – of Gucci’s various international flagships and be applied to an array of garments and accessories in the very near future.
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