Gucci surprises with twin-themed show at Milan Fashion Week

Fashionistas saw double at Gucci's Milan Fashion Week show on Friday, with the Italian luxury label surprising audiences by sending identically-dressed twins down the catwalk.

Creative director Alessandro Michele paid homage to twins and their bond for the show, called "Gucci Twinsburg", a nod to the Ohio town which holds a yearly festival for twins.

The presentation began with single models walking down the catwalk, before a wall was lifted to show their brothers or sisters on the other side in the exact same outfits.

The siblings held hands as they walked together in a striking finale.

"I am a son of two mothers: mum Eralda and mum Giuliana. Two extraordinary women who made their twinship the ultimate seal of their existence," Michele said in show notes.

"They lived in the same body. They dressed and combed their hair in the same way. They were magically mirrored. One multiplied the other. That was my world, perfectly double and doubled."

Michele's designs began with a black blazer jacket teamed with suspender-like trouser legs, followed by a bright red belted dress. Biker jackets were paired with skirts bearing cutouts, shimmering silver jackets were cropped and had large shoulders, while prints on colourful dresses depicted spanners and bolts.

Models also wore floor-length trench coats, floral kimono-inspired designs, and ruffled silk dresses, among an eclectic mix of looks. Accessories included long beaded jewellery and sunglasses, leopard print tights and snakeskin boots.

"It's exactly the impossibility of the perfectly identical that nourishes the magic of twins," Michele said.

"Twinsburg plays this game, producing a tension in the relationship between original and copy. 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."

Milan Fashion Week runs until Monday.