The inevitable has happened. Long-time friends Alessandro Michele and pop god Harry Styles have collaborated on a Gucci collection. Unveiled during the menswear shows in Milan, Gucci HA HA HA is described as “a collection born from a creative relationship that self-generates from amusement and ends with the tangibility of a product”.

“Harry has an incredible sense of fashion,” said Michele in a statement. “The idea of working together came to me one day while we were talking on the phone: I proposed creating a ‘dream wardrobe’ with him… We ended up with a mix of aesthetics, from 1970s pop and bohemia to the revision of the image of the gentleman in an overturned memory of men’s tailoring,” the creative director added.

 

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The result, which characterises “the creative paths and peculiarities of the two artists”, incorporates traditional English tailoring with dashes of romance and eccentricity, from double-breasted coats in Prince of Wales check, to the mother-of-pearl buttons on shirts. Velvet suits in vibrant shades sit alongside printed pyjamas, bowling shirts and pleated kilts. From the striped tank tops to the flares to the heart motif on a pair of white boots, the collection is unmistakably Gucci – and unmistakably Harry.

Gucci’s creative director and Styles have been close friends since Michele made his debut at the helm of the house, as Harry was embarking on what was to become a wildly successful solo career. (News of the collaboration emerged the day after he played to an ecstatic crowd at Wembley Stadium, clad, naturally, in Gucci.) “The encounter immediately generated a relationship of exchange, of continuous creative contamination, and the drive to explore,” Gucci said.