Listening to philosopher Emanuele Coccia speak, you’d think he belongs more in a Voltaire play, or perhaps a chiaroscuro Renaissance painting, than in modern life. But his Instagram shows him in oversized glasses, and features cars, computer keyboards and other newfangled contraptions that place him firmly in the 21st century.  

A doctor of medieval philosophy, Coccia has more recently focused on the theory of fashion. He’s produced a photo book with the Dutch fashion photographer Viviane Sassen, and is currently working on another with Alessandro Michele, his friend and the creative director of Gucci. Where are the intersections between his two worlds? 

Stephanie d’Arc Taylor: What is philosophy to you? 

Emanuele Coccia: Etymologically, the word philosophy contains the idea th...