Gucci creative director Alessandro Michele has made a clear abortion rights message in his latest Cruise collection, as the debate over abortion heats up once again in the United States.

The collection, shown to a VIP crowd Tuesday evening in Rome's Capitoline Museum, featured a purple jacket with the slogan "My Body, My Choice" on the back, and a sweater emblazoned with the date "May 22, 1978," marking the day that abortion became legal in Italy. A belted gown was embroidered with a flowering uterus.

Michele said new restriction on abortion in the United States "made me consider how much women should be highly respected."

Gucci is coming off the success of the Met Gala it helped host in New York but it also has come under fire for garments considered culturally insensitive.

The brand apologized in February for a balaclava sweater that evoked blackface for many.