September 23, 2023 |
“To dance. To sing. To sweat. To Live. To Breathe. Gucci” so said the strap line to Gucci’s Instagram as it unveiled the debut collection of Sabato De Sarno. It was Milan’s hottest ticket, with everyone from Ryan Gosling and Bad Bunny to Pierpaolo Piccioli, De Sarno’s former boss at Valentino coming to support Gucci’s new boy.
It’s always a huge moment when a big house hits the refresh button and De Sarno delivered the ultimate palette cleanser collection, drawing a firm line under the Alessandro Michele era of wild eccentricity.
His Gucci is leaner, cleaner and more precise with a focus on covetable wardrobe pieces and many appealing iterations of the iconic Jackie bag – a dazzling crystallised version was the most eye-catching. Rain had disrupted his plans to show outdoors in the heart of Milan’s Brera district, which teams with students. Instead he decamped to the vast show space at the Gucci hub.
His models strode into the vast space to a Mark Ronson soundtrack, wearing sharp little tailored shorts deeply scooped white vests, masculine coats, neat little mini shifts in logo fabric, Gucci’s new ‘red’ (think a rich deep, wine colour) features on pencil skirts split to the top of the thigh. Abbreviated skirts worn with crystal bustiers atop flatform loafers was De Sarno’s youthful take on cocktail dressing. There was a realness to the way it was put together. Little lacy negligees were worn with trainers for a night out. Stylish baggy denim was dressed up with a crystal trimmed top. These are the kind of proportions and combinations you see fashion conscious young women wearing the world over. Gucci is pushing at an open door of youthful dressing. It had a coltish sexuality and a sensually but didn’t stray into the hyper sexual territory prowled by Tom Ford in his Gucci heyday. It felt like a real wardrobe rather than a whimsical flight of fancy with everything elevated by Italian craft and the kind of polish that you only find on Milan (its borne of quality materials and expert craftsmanship). It left the audience wanting more. Slick, polished, contemporary and fresh, the Sabato era has begun.
Photography courtesy of Gucci.
