Fashion enthusiasts around the world had been waited for the Gucci Ancora Spring/Summer 2024 show with bated breath. Taking place at the Milan Fashion Week on September 22, 2023, the show marked the debut of the house’s new creative director, Sabato De Sarno.
And if you are wondering what the buzz is about or have come across the Gucci logo splashed across a plain, deep red background and thought about what it represents, we’re breaking it down for you:
Everything You Need To Know About The Gucci Ancora Show
The Gucci Reset
Having parted ways with CEO Marco Bizzarri earlier this year and with former creative director, Alessandro Michele in 2022, The House of Gucci had set itself up for a complete reset. This was being done to take a break from its ‘maximalist’ era to give the brand another shot at restoring the glory days witnessed during their Tom Ford era.
Who’s The New Creative Director Of Gucci?
With the creative top seat left vacant, the Kering-owned brand found what they were looking for in Sabato De Sarno. A graduate of Milan’s Istituto Secoli, his resume boasts of past experience at prestigious brands like Valentino (where he worked for 14 years and rose through ranks to become Pierpaolo Piccioli’s right-hand man), Prada and Dolce Gabbana. However, he has remained behind-the-scenes for most of his career and remains unknown outside industry circuits. Upon his hiring in January, then CEO Marco Bizzari had stated that he was brought onboard to “write Gucci’s next chapter, reinforcing the house’s fashion authority while capitalising on its rich heritage”.
And for De Sarno, this meant reviving Gucci’s Italian roots, heritage and glory. “It’s a very Italian brand with a huge heritage. Italian in craftsmanship, Italian in taste, and we lost that I think. I want to bring it back. Italianity is part of my story, for sure,” he said in an interview with a fashion magazine.
His first work for the brand was a new jewellery campaign featuring 2000s supermodel Daria Werbowy, who returned to modelling only for her old friend De Sarno. She was photographed at the infamous Chateau Marmont Hotel wearing nothing but Gucci jewellery. This gave viewers across the world a peek into De Sarno’s minimal and essentials-only vibe.
Highlights From The Gucci Ancora show
First, let’s start with what Ancora means for all of this to make sense. “Ancora means a lot of things,” Sabato De Sarno explained in an interview. “It means again (in Italian), but it’s also more personal; it’s not something you lost, it’s something that you still have, but you want more of it because it makes you happy… I want people to fall in love with Gucci again.”
With this collection, the brand tried to break away from Alessandro Michele’s maximalist vibe, and deleting all of the brand’s posts on Instagram represents the clean slate his successor has to play with. In an interview with Style, Sabato said regarding his first collection, “There are the elements of fashion that I love, that I would never get tired of, combined with the incredible history of Gucci.”
Reportedly, Sabato De Sarno spent the early days of his appointment as the new creative director at the House’s archives in Florence, which served as a major inspiration for the upcoming collection. Among iconic designs that De Sarno plans to bring back — like the Jackie and Horsebit bags, the GG belt and the Jordaan loafers — he also plans to shine some light upon lesser-known pieces he was inspired by.
With ads splashed across monuments and billboards of several fashion hubs, the Gucci Ancora planned to shake up the fashion scene.
What’s different about Gucci Ancora?
Aside from the new leadership, the show did not take place at the Gucci Hub as per tradition. Instead, Sabato De Sarno has chosen the streets surrounding the Accademia di Brera, a historic fine arts university in the heart of Milan’s artistic centre. Several roads were shut down to accommodate the show and the designer imagines crowds flocking to balconies overlooking the street to catch glimpses. Unlike most brands that bank on the star power of famous models and celebrities, De Sarno has only mostly unknown and emerging talent walking his show.
Seven-time Grammy winner Mark Ronson was appointed as the musical director of the show and had the audience grooving along to his upbeat and classic tunes.
Who is expected to attend the Gucci Ancora show?
While no famous faces were expected on the runway, the guest list remains star-studded. Gucci ambassadors like Alia Bhatt, Xiao Zhan, Lu Han, NiNi, KAI, Chris Lee and Hanni may be in attendance. Moreover, celebrities like Julia Roberts, Ryan Gosling and Kendall Jenner, among a host of others were also going to be present.
Where can you watch the Gucci Ancora S/S 24 Show?
You can catch the Gucci Ancora show in India on the Gucci website or on their social media handles.
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