Latest news with #ArtofSilk
Gulf News
24-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Gulf News
Gucci's ‘The Art of Silk' unfurls a tapestry of craft and culture in Florence
In a fifteenth-century palazzo nestled in Florence's Oltrarno district, Gucci is tracing the fine threads of its legacy—one scarf at a time. The Art of Silk, the Italian House's new exhibition and accompanying publication, offers a rare look inside the atelier's storied relationship with silk, positioning the accessory not just as a flourish of fashion, but as a cultural artefact. It all began with Tolda di Nave, a nautical-themed silk scarf created in 1958 through a collaboration with a Como-based silk producer. What followed was a visual and material archive that grew increasingly intricate—most notably with the arrival of illustrator Vittorio Accornero de Testa, whose baroque, botanical imaginings defined the House's scarf designs for decades. Among them, the most enduring remains the Flora scarf, created in 1966 for Princess Grace of Monaco. With its 43 species of flora and fauna rendered in 37 hand-applied colours, the design has become a quiet symbol of Gucci's dedication to detail and Italian artistry. Today, it adorns the slipcase of the exhibition's companion book—an homage to a motif that has spanned from the necks of royals to the runways of Alessandro Michele. The Art of Silk is not just a retrospective—it is also an act of renewal. A highlight of the exhibition is 90×90, a project featuring nine limited-edition scarves reinterpreted by contemporary artists. The works offer a fresh lens on Gucci's design language, blurring the lines between wearable object and visual art. While the fashion world continues to spin toward the digital and ephemeral, Gucci's silk showcase is a reminder of what remains rooted: craftsmanship, history, and the art of making something slowly. In its best moments, The Art of Silk reads like a love letter to the analogue.
South China Morning Post
21-04-2025
- Entertainment
- South China Morning Post
Style Edit: Gucci celebrates its heritage with The Art of Silk, starring Ozark's Julia Garner with the 1966 Flora motif – and invites 9 international artists to reinterpret 5 enduring scarf themes
For those who appreciate the finer things in life, Gucci's silk scarves are more than accessories – they are small masterpieces. This month, the maison unveils 'The Art of Silk', a multifaceted project that celebrates Gucci's rich history of craftsmanship in silk, while it also innovates and reimagines the art form for the modern era. The Art of Silk celebrates Gucci's history of silk craftsmanship. Photo: Handout Julia Garner, of Ozark breakout fame, stars in the accompanying vignette, Keep It Gucci: The Art of Silk, shot by Steven Meisel. Against the backdrop of a nocturnal cityscape, the 31-year-old actress embodies the fluid elegance of silk, while the maison's vibrant Flora motif – an iconic design conceived in 1966 by Italian illustrator Vittorio Accornero de Testa – reminds us that timeless elegance never fades. Advertisement Julia Garner in Keep It Gucci: The Art of Silk. Photo: Handout Gucci's love affair with silk began in the 1950s, its early designs echoing the maison's signature leather goods. In 1958, Accornero collaborated with a distinguished silk producer from Como, Italy, to create the Tolda di Nave, a nautical-themed pattern that marked the beginning of decades of innovation in silk. Floral motifs have been a feature of Gucci scarves since the 1960s. Photo: Handout Throughout the 1960s, Accornero's imaginative designs transformed silk into wearable art, with nearly 80 scarves designed between 1960 and 1981 – from the intricate Flora, created for Princess Grace of Monaco, to nautical motifs and animalia prints. The iconic Horsebit motif, which debuted in 1953, and GG Monogram, introduced in 1969, further solidified Gucci's position in the world of silk artistry. Equestrian themes have long been another Gucci staple. Photo: Handout To pay homage to this legacy, Gucci's '90 x 90' project sees nine international artists invited to reinterpret five enduring scarf themes of the maison. The initiative blurs the lines between pop culture, fine art and fashion. The artists – Robert Barry, Everett Glenn, Sara Leghissa, Currynew, Jonny Niesche, Gio Pastori, Walter Petrone, Yu Cai and Inji Seo – bring their unique perspectives to the project, resulting in interpretations ranging from the wry and witty, to the beautiful and poignant.
