Alessandro Michele made eccentric maximalism cool

Style Points is a weekly column on how fashion intersects with the rest of the world.

Aside from the burgeoning twee revival of the 2010s, the word "quirky" has gotten bad press in fashion. But when the then largely unknown Alessandro Michele burst onto the scene seven years ago, he made eccentricity cool again after years dominated by tastefully minimalist "stealth wealth".

With its intricate mixed prints, oversized eyewear and Royal Tenenbaums style luxury leisure, its first collection for women for Gucci has shaken up fashion. Michele's show notes for this particular track quote philosopher Giorgio Agamben: "Those who are truly contemporary are those who do not perfectly coincide with their time or adapt to its demands." It would prove to be a revealing playbook of how Michele's designs felt both current and nostalgic. He anticipated fashion's love of second-hand DIY – long before resale sites fully accelerated our collective recycling and remixing of past seasons – while pushing his ideas forward. Suddenly, everyone, even those who wore only black, wanted to look like eccentric countess, striding in her furry backless loafers.

Michele's first women's collection for the brand, for fall 2015.

Oversized bezels and academic credentials aside, Michele's collections weren't just bookish and philosophical. Although his shows featured models dressed as goofy wallflowers, they were overseen by a showman. It incorporated theatrical runway shows (a show made up entirely of twin models, a rotating carousel-like stage), an unexpected cast (Macaulay Culkin, Phoebe Bridgers), collaborations with everyone from sportswear giant Adidas to the Instagram-famous artist Unskilled Worker, and the occasional charming, unhinged touch, like models wearing dragons and grave...