Gucci at Alyscamps — Gucci Cruise 2019 Arles (2018)

Alyscamps, the Roman burial avenue in Arles, hosted Gucci's Cruise 2019 runway show among its sarcophagi and plane trees.

The venue

Alyscamps is an ancient Roman and early Christian necropolis on the edge of Arles in southern France, laid out along a tree-lined allée bordered by stone sarcophagi and the remains of early churches. From the fourth century it served as a pilgrimage route and burial ground. It is normally visited as an open-air heritage site, walked through rather than seated in.

How the space was used

For the show the allée became a runway, with models walking the length of the burial avenue between the sarcophagi. Lighting was built low along the path as flames and candelabra, keeping the tombs and trees as the visible backdrop. Seating was arranged alongside the route so the procession passed through the necropolis rather than in front of a constructed set.

Why it works here

Ruins and burial ground give a fashion narrative an existing atmosphere that no built set can reproduce, and the linear allée already works as a catwalk. Because the site is open-air heritage, the production had to sit lightly within it, which suits a show meant to be read as a procession through a place.