by Olly Alexander in a cod red piece (a suggestive outfit, like a harness, attached to the front of men’s hose) at Eurovision. Benedict Cumberbatch as Sherlock Holmes. Beckhams-on-the-Cotswolds. There are some visions that imprint themselves indelibly on the brain, no matter how hard we try to erase them.
What emblems spring to mind when the rest of the world thinks of the British? For Gucci’s new designer, Sabato De Sarno, she is Princess Diana in her versatile green and silver Philadelphia Eagles jacket, on the school run with Princes William and Harry in 1991. “It looks like it was stolen from a wardrobe that doesn’t belong to you,” He told The Guardian ahead of his Cruise 2025 show, held in London on Monday night. “I like personalities that talk about something contradictory.”
It seems that designers, especially the Italian ones, are fascinated by British traditions and the British reflex to turn them. Diana, increasingly, mine rich. Whatever you thought of his style at the time, in time it becomes more interesting; a distinctive time capsule, which acts as a message board for whatever was going on in their lives at the time. She was full of glamorous clothes that she felt herself to be caught wearing in the form of propaganda for whatever she wanted to convey to the public, without going down the fierce route to convince the palace residents authorizing a press release.
Fun Mom Diana (against stuffy Charles) brought out the American college baseball caps and jackets. Diana was a young newlywed trying to please her new relatives, and she was seen in checks and plaids at Balmoral. Then came the pussy bows as she wanted her older self and the “fairy tale” ball gown.
For his London Gucci show, De Sarno took all these elements and put them back through his clean, smooth filter. The college jackets, minus any decoration or college names, worn with slim, below-the-knee skirts became chic elements in De Sarno’s sleek play on proportions. Instead of focusing on the high waisted trousers, cropped jackets and maxi lengths that are everywhere at the moment, he reduced waists, raised hemlines.
Why show in London? Because brands are now expected to host guests for these holiday shows (the collections that land in stores between the main ready-to-wear) in glamorous locations outside the fashion capitals of Paris and Milan. Most people who get invited to London love to come to London, especially when they are put up at The Savoy.
There is even a real connection between Gucci and the city. Guccio Gucci started working as a tailor at The Savoy in 1897 before opening a luggage store in Florence in 1921. What would he do with his label held court at his old workplace? From The Savoy, guests were taken to the Tate Modern for the show itself.
De Sarno hasn’t had the easiest of times since taking creative control of Gucci last year. It coincided with a global slowdown in demand for luxury fashion. Last month, Kering, the conglomerate that owns Gucci, issued a profit warning, saying it expected a first-quarter drop in operating profits of up to 45 percent. This is not De Sarno’s fault – his designs, which represent a dramatic break with his predecessor, Alessandro Michele, were slow to achieve the exuberant maximization of the shops.
But Gucci wore everything at this show. Against the background of the St. Paul river, the Walkie Talkie et al building, François-Henri Pinault, the chief executive of Kering, was confidently turning next to his wife, Salma Hayek. As well as drawing in Andrew Scott (smaller than you’d think), Paul Mescal, Demi Moore (also tiny), Dua Lipa and Kate Moss, Debbie Harry sat front row with a Gucci Blondie handbag, an update on a 70s classic . which is available to buy from Tuesday.
On the trail, you couldn’t go wrong with Blondie handbags – a chunky, squishy saddle bag in three sizes. Bags were a big part of De Sarno’s proportion game, with ultra large and very neat ones adding to the puzzle.
As for the clothes, some people criticized the first collection that was withdrawn from De Sarno last September for being dull. True, there weren’t the fireworks of its predecessor, but those fireworks were repetitive. Anecdotally, a lot of real women seem to like what he’s up to – and this holiday show, which featured horsebit motifs on suede, delicate embroidery, intricate glass bead fringe, pearl necklaces and ditsy flowers, should go chic. against black scars, some way forward. attract the larger brigade back. Shoes were mostly flat, strappy with traces of the heart of the ballet.
As for the less is more fine? Who doesn’t love a great 70’s style blazer with a claw bow blouse and tailored jeans, or a perfect pea coat?
Will Diana, known as a savior, rescue Gucci? Although it has yet to set De Sarno’s distinctive handwriting, the Gucci London show brought together many different ideas into a collection of stunning clothes to be copied on the high street.
More looks from the show…
