Bright Eyes

Billie represents something completely new

Alessandro Michele, Vogue, May 2021.

Kitsch and pretty, Shōjo manga are historically manga comics for girls. The imagery is flowery, sparkly and charming; the girls wear dolly shoes, ribbons and lace; hair is flippy, eyelashes are ultra-long, and the overall aesthetic is romantic fantasy. During the Michele era, the house of Gucci had a longstanding fascination with Shōjo, a visual touchstone for the brand – it was an easily adopted modern motif that felt right for much of the Gucci demographic. It’s young and fresh, innocent but brave.

Billie was transformed by Japanese artist Takashi Murakami into an anime for 2018’s ‘you should see me in a crown’ and again for the video of her 2020 song, ‘my future’, by Australian illustrator Andrew Onorato. It got 50 million approving hits on YouTube. And when creative director, Alessandro Michele, wove Shōjo imagery of a blonde girl onto an Autumn 2018 menswear brown sweater and Billie wore it on the Jimmy Kimmel Live! show in October 2021, the jumper felt like validation from an aficionado. She wore it easily as well, with a chic-geek shirt underneath and gothic platform Chelsea boots by Dr Martens, bringing out Billie’s own glittering eyes.

this page: Cover artwork of a Japanese manga comic book, 2006. opposite: Billie on Jimmy Kimmel Live wearing a Gucci anime jumper.