In September 2022, Gucci creative director Alessandro Michele unveiled the newest collection with Twinsburg – a fashion show with solely identical twin models wearing identical outfits. The runway was split in two by a wall with black and white photographs of the twins. Halfway through the show, the wall lifted, revealing the model’s identical twin dressed in the same outfit on the other side. Each set of twins returned to the runway once more to walk with their sibling, hands clasped and parting at the end. Throughout the show, voiceover by Marianne Faithful read excerpts of the lyrics from the song “Identical Twins” (famously performed by Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen) in a beat poetry style.
Alessandro Michele drew inspiration from his own life as his mother was a twin. He writes of the show, “As if by magic, clothes duplicate. They seem to lose their status of singularity. The effect is alienating and ambiguous. Almost a rift in the idea of identity, and then, the revelation: the same clothes emanate different qualities on seemingly identical bodies. Fashion, after all, lives on serial multiplications that don’t hamper the most genuine expression of every possible individuality” (YouTube). He hinted this theme at the 2022 Met Gala with the help of Jared Leto.
The show is meant to challenge the idea that identicality thwarts individuality. The outfits and styles made an even bigger impact when the models returned with their counterparts. It’s an embrace and celebration of identicality. The voiceover furthers this with the carefully selected lines, particularly: “I am not a xerox, I am not a clone, a duplicate, a copycat, a second scoop on the ice cream cone. Two two totally, totally utterly, utterly opposite, opposite totally, totally different.” It emphasizes individuality despite the irony of the models’ identical appearances.
I first came across this show on Instagram and shrugged it off as an exploitation of people’s fascination with twins – the show uses twins and their identicality as part of the spectacle. Since researching the show and the intentions behind it, I appreciate Michele’s careful thought. I had no clue about the voiceover and hearing Faithful’s rendition of “Identical Twins” gave me chills. The diversity and sheer number of the twin models is also incredible to see. Here, twins from all over the world united on this runway.
Still, as much as it is a celebration of twins, I do still feel it reinforces that spectacle aspect of seeing identically-dressed identical twins. It emphasizes this idea that identical twins have to dress the same. The potential impact of a few pairs of models having slight variations in their outfits or complementing outfits would’ve better delivered this message of individuality in identicality. Additionally, there’s the impact of the twins’ physical similarities with them all being the same body-type and weight as their twin. This could be a symptom of the modeling industry and other issues around body image, but this physical identicality is still a harmful standard seen among twins.
Nonetheless, I do applaud the choice to have the models walk independently then together with the twins parting at the end. It lends itself to this greater idea of what being a twin is like. Anyone you pass on the street could be a twin, but only when they’re with their sibling does this awe, this wonder, this spectacle take place (and is often followed by the idiotically obvious question, “Are you guys twins?”). The twins part ways at the end of the runway, returning to their separate, independent lives even though they carry the identicality with them in their outfits. For me, it highlights a very real part of life as a twin – even without your twin, you are a twin.
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