What new direction will Gucci take with the advent of its new creative director, Sabato De Sarno?
In the meantime, the new Gucci Cruise 2024 Collection is exploring a new dialogue between the House’s own heritage and the electrifying South Korean impact that influences it today.
The new collection was presented within a show that was the first of its kind, as it took place within the ceremonial courtyard of the 14th century Gyeongbokgung Palace, located in the heart of Seoul.
With the capital’s futuristic skyline on the horizon, an interchange between times and traditions unfolded the collection to a score including pieces by the Seoulite composer Jung Jae-il, presented on a cast of familiar faces from the recent eras of the House, from South Korea and around the world.
While presenting a multicultural fashion manifestation, the collection reflects the global community at the heart of Gucci itself: a century-old creative legacy now evolved by designers and artisans of different backgrounds – who each interpret the House’s codes through their own individual and cultural gazes.
It presented a study of the global urban wardrobe invigorated by an instinct for fashion expressed on the streets of Seoul echoed across the globe, and the customs of South Korean dress.
The collection’s silhouettes brought back to mind Gucci of the late 1990s – but expressed in the color palette of the 2010s – mixing different generational codes inherent to metropolitan dressing manifest between sportswear, streetwear and casualwear.
Every garment and look reflects a form of hybridisation. Bourgeois “streetwear”–expressed through the bouclé skirt suit, the silk blouse, the kitten heel–splices with sportswear informed by everyday life in Seoul through the scuba wetsuits worn by the fervent windsurfers and jet-skiers of the Han River. The body-conscious lines are contrasted against the voluminous dress codes of skateboarding as surfing’s terrestrial boardsport equivalent.
The hybridisation inspires a study of deconstruction. Detachable sleeves become accessories, while zips enable trousers to expand in shape. The bomber jacket transmutes into an evening skirt, and the biker jacket elongates into a coat.
Sculptural lines inform A-line dresses and diverse styles feature silk bands with bows, drawing inspiration from traditional local garments. As a counterpart, the Gucci Web–the House’s signature tri-band–adorns pieces in super-magnified form. Hyper-sensory biomorphic motifs by the South Korean artist Ram Han animate the collection.
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