Twins graduates from Twinsburg High School walked an Italian runway Saturday wearing the threads of a Gucci designer inspired by the symmetrical canvas of — you guessed it — twins.
Jack and Nate Bartel led their local high school swim team and graduated together in May. Recruited from a Summit County community that unabashedly embraces its namesake, they sported identical shimmering red ensembles Saturday while holding hands down the runway in Milan, Italy.
Social media marketing for designer Alessandro Michele’s international fashion show featured a backdrop of Twinsburg City Hall. In a Sunday bulletin to the school community, Superintendent Kathi Powers showered praise on her two recent graduates.
“Jack and Nate, once Tigers, always Tigers,” Powers wrote to the district’s families. “We are Tiger Proud of you!”
Michele, the designer, explained that the mass production of garments inevitably leaves two customers wearing the same getup. But when worn by identical twins, exact outfits can pop in unexpectedly different ways.
“Almost a rift in the idea of identity, and then, the revelation: the same clothes emanate different qualities on seemingly identical bodies,” Michele wrote in his notes for the fashion show: Gucci Twinsburg.
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Separated by an ocean and six time zones, the closest the fashion show got to Northeast Ohio appears to be an image in a social media promo video of identically dressed twins in front of a “Welcome to Twinsburg” sign in front of Twinsburg City Hall.
On Facebook, Jack and Nate Bartel’s mother, Laura, previewed her sons’ accomplishment as they were tapped to model one of the world’s most expensive and sought-after brands.
“I’m pretty sure as a class superlative I would have been (v)oted ‘least likely to produce a model,’ ” Laura wrote, punctuating the joke with a laugh emoji.
Along with leading their high school at suburban swim meets and championships, the Bartel brothers were selected as grand marshals for this year’s annual Twins Days festival in August.
Gucci broadcast the fashion show in Italy on YouTube at www.youtube.com/watch?v=XhROrqqJpuI. The young Bartels walk at the 45:10 second mark.
The show featured symmetrical face jewelry and necklaces. Mirror images were occasionally interrupted by handbags shaped like the furry Mogwai creatures from the cult classic Gremlins trilogy, which debuted in 1984.
“Horrendous” clothes but “nice Halloween costumes,” a couple observers wrote on Gucci Facebook ad featuring the Twinsburg City Hall backdrop as other users asked where they might find a particular handbag seen on stage in a particular color.
Reach reporter Doug Livingston at dlivingston@thebeaconjournal.com or 330-99603792.
