Emanuele Coccia and Alessandro Michele explore fashion and philosophy in new book

HarperCollins has published "La vita delle forme. Filosofia del reincanto" (2024), a dialogue between Italian philosopher Emanuele Coccia and fashion designer Alessandro Michele, former creative director of Gucci and now at Valentino. The book examines the relationship between philosophical speculation, artistic creation, and tailoring, elevating fashion beyond craftsmanship and design. Structured as seven thematic rooms—Philosophy, Ambiguity, Animism, Design, Collection, Hollywood, Twins—the text alternates voices, with Coccia's contributions in italics, dissolving boundaries between disciplines. Topics include body, identity, time, and transformation. The graphic design by Riccardo Falcinelli evokes the layered commentary of the Talmud. A key moment referenced is Michele's 2015 debut at Gucci, where his press releases became "short treatises" citing Roland Barthes, Giorgio Agamben, and Hannah Arendt, redefining couture's language. The second part collects these texts. The book argues that fashion and philosophy share a fundamental need to liberate ideas and allow life to express itself through forms, with fashion described as a radical expression of creative freedom that constantly reinvents the body.