Alessandro Michele has always been the kind of creative multi-hyphenate you'd be hard-pressed to keep in a box. Whether he was moulding replica heads with Jared Leto to walk down the Met Gala carpet with, or taking up the gauntlet at Maison Valentino after Pierpaolo Piccioli's 25-year tenure, he always seems to invariably outrun even our finest predictions.
So when it was announced this week that Michele had written his first book, well, let's just say we weren't too surprised. The book The Life of Forms – Theory of the Re-enchantment is co-written by Michele and academic Emmanuele Coccia. Here's everything we know about the book, its publication and where you can get your hands on it.
What is it about?
The book is a deep dive into dialogue between philosophy and fashion, but Michele also divulged that it was about "so many other things" as well. Written during the COVID lockdowns of 2020, the book was conceived when Michele and Coccia were introduced by Michele's partner Giovanni Attili. Coccia, a professor at Paris' École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales, taught fashion history, and instantly the two felt a kinship.
The book notably lacks any imagery or photographs – and is divided into seven parts (Philosophy, Ambiguity, Animism, Design, Collections, Hollywood, Twins). Its concluding stanza revisits the philosophical press notes Michele wrote with his partner for each of the 22 runway shows he oversaw during his time at the House of Gucci (2015–2022).
"Fashion shapes," Coccia wrote on his Instagram profile, "Are not only tools for knowing the world and ourselves. They are also amulets with which we invent and experience new freedoms. Freedom to resurrect shelved possibilities. Freedom to construct new meanings. Freedom to choose who we are".
When will it be released?
The book was published by HarperCollins earlier last month across Italy, the United States, the United Kingdom and Germany. It's only available in Italian for now, but there will be an English translation coming in late 2025.
Where can I buy it?
It looks like the book (sans its title) is available from Bookshop.org and Amazon.com.
