Change looks different when seen from afar: Gucci FW24

Gucci's maximalism hasn't gone away; he just changed. The Fall/Winter 2024 collection is full of clues that show creative director Sabato De Sarno is offering more than a clean aesthetic.

Gucci has never been a minimalist house. Not when the City bag, heavily monogrammed with the GG symbol and sporting several gold details, became its first sell-out item in the 1950s after Jackie Kennedy was seen carrying it. Not even when Tom Ford dressed Gwyneth Paltrow in a red velvet suit from his Fall/Winter 1996 collection for the MTV Video Music Awards, which threw her name into a total pop culture frenzy. And especially not when Alessandro Michele paraded his models cradling replica heads of themselves in a setting resembling a hospital operating room before attempting to recreate the same theatrical gestures until his last collection for the home.

The same can be said of Sabato De Sarno, Gucci's latest creative head. Although its menswear debut seems to suggest a new Gucci dominated by accessible silhouettes and simple textile ideas, its effect is far from minimalism. His proposals are, on the contrary, radically maximalist. Maybe just not like we've seen before. The evidence can dispel this, especially when compared to the house's most recent memory. Who could forget the show on Hollywood Boulevard and its presentation of the craziest looks that exist in luxury fashion? Accessorizing her looks with a scarf hanging suggestively over the male body and choosing a deep red on shiny bags, it seems wrong to characterize her work as minimal in the name of being complete.

Instead, it addresses a concern of today's customers: having the freedom to experiment without the pressure to succumb to (and invest in) a certain style tribe. The house previously represented fashion in its most extreme form, where it was full of flamboyance. In the days of old Gucci, guests often remarked how each show was like attending an opera, and they would resign themselves to their most outrageous ensembles just to fit in. Understanding the idea that this no longer has a place in fashion, De Sarno focuses on adaptability, breaking down looks for all types of scenarios and thus allowing everyone to be loved in them, no matter what. their gender, their tastes, their mood or their origin.

The problem with minimalism is its fundamental belief that making clothes is more than substitutions for the sake of it: that celebrities would choose to be minimal to hide from the headlines, as a complete rejection of any relationship with pop culture, and to create an eternal and timeless style. wardrobe. However, there is enough evidence to show that the creative director intended to create clothes for the opposite effect. After all, fall-winter 2024 men's fashion is a product of celebration, celebrity and the cool zeitgeist.

This is the story of fabulous and diverse people, De Sarno shared in the collections notes. His Getty images of nice people of all ages, and it's inclusive, like everyone's, are welcome. It's a story of films, my beloved Italy, intellectuals and traveling the world, but always feeling at home wherever you are. It's a story of music and parties, sweat, dancing and singing. It's a story of family, of kisses, lots and lots of kisses. It’s once again a story of everything, but this time expressed through joy.

This was clearly demonstrated in looks 50 to 56, which consisted of the same garments but executed for different purposes. If we're headed to a sultry late-night party, the embellished tank top and low-rise pants from Look 51 will do the trick. Look 53, which features the crystal embellished on her coat, is Look 51's understated cousin when the party calls for a little conservatism. Then it was all about sewing. The costumes, built around three looks, highlight an approach that honors the fundamental values ​​of Gucci, a luxury house faithful to craftsmanship (look 56) and imbued with sensuality (look 52) and romanticism (look 50) .

This idea shines through even in the smallest details. The Creeper loafers, named Damien, are the house's most basic version of the men's Horsebit loafers and are in themselves a direct nod to the British rebellion. But De Sarno chose to create an end result that would make sense both as casual shoes to pair with jeans and as dress shoes that would blend under the hem of wool pants. Additionally, the tailoring of the collection involves hand-stitched construction with all the exteriors hidden from use. But it features a unique, heat-pressed crinkle detail that seems unnecessary, but is an important, elevating detail that's as maximalist as possible.

Although there will always be a penchant for nostalgia, De Sarno seems determined to unite the house's current and future audiences. It all started with the color red, Gucci's new romantic and emblematic shade. Red is a color that is easily inspired by the memory of the deep red that mothers once wore on their lips, the color of young passion and love, and the color of the blood that flows within us. For someone who has irreversibly subscribed to an aesthetic of downsizing and downsizing, splashing the strange effect of this tone into brand codes and later into clothing and accessories signifies a demand for some attention. The one who is less hostile to being intellectual but perceives fashion as a driver of pleasure and individualism.

Once you have finished this story, clickhereto catch up with our June/July 2024 issue.

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