Latest news with #SabatoDeSarno
Graziadaily
21-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Graziadaily
This Is Going To Be Your New Favourite Designer Bag Of All Time
Despite working in fashion for just over 10 years now, and despite obsessing over the subject of fashion for even longer than that, I have a problem with bags. I don't mean that I can't find one I like, I've found plenty. There's the bag I take to weddings that looks like a perfect pearl, the bag I wear across my person when I'm busy and need not to be carrying anything with my hands, and there's the bag I stuff all number of items into when I'm going away for a few days. I like all of these bags; these bags are all very nice in their own right. What all of these bags have in common, however, is that they are either too small or too large to make them perfect. This means that, for the past I-don't-know-how-long, I have been travelling to work with my handbag, a tote bag containing my laptop and sometimes even a third bag for miscellaneous items I can't seem to fit into either of the other two bags. For this reason, I would like to thank Gucci, for it has just invented the very bag that's going to change my life. Last week, Gucci staged its Cruise 2026 show in Florence. It's an interesting time for the brand which, following the exit of Sabato De Sarno in February this year, is awaiting the arrival of Demna, currently creative director at Balenciaga (Pierpaolo Piccioli will be succeeding him there). This Cruise collection, as a result, was designed en masse by the Gucci team, shown in the 15th century Palazzo Settimanni, which is home to the brand's archive. And really, the collection resembled a journey through said archive, with elements that looked to be plucked from each Gucci era, from De Sarno to Alessandro Michele to Frida Giannini to Tom Ford. The most exciting part? The Giglio bag. Gucci Giglio Large Tote Bag in Beige Canvas The true embodiment of an 'investment bag', this will carry everything you need – and then some – while looking incredibly chic. Among the silk, brocade, jacquard and velvet, the Giglio bag emerged as the stand-out piece of the Cruise show. Named after the emblem of Florence – giglio is the Italian word for lily – Gucci says it's 'an homage to the city' with its GG monogram in either beige canvas or blue denim, complete with the signature Gucci stripe. New designer bags are two a penny these days, though, so why am I so excited about the Giglio? The size. Imagine your old tote bag. Then look at the Giglio and you'll find it difficult not to feel badly about your accessories. The Giglio has all the elegance of a top handle bag, only the handle is deep enough for you to wear it on your shoulder. It's slouchy, meaning you can shove a whole load of stuff in there and still be able to carry it and, most importantly, it's enormous. It's enormous without being too big to qualify as a perfectly reasonable, everyday sort of handbag. You see? It's perfect. Gucci Giglio Large Tote Bag in Blue Denim The bag also comes in blue denim, and you can even personalise it with your own monogram. Into the Giglio, I could happily fit my laptop, the contents of my handbag and all of those miscellaneous items I am apparently carting around with me in no less than three separate bags. This isn't just about practicality, though, for I am a shallow beast. This bag is chic. It is the stuff of dreams. Happily, Gucci has made the bag available to buy now, before the rest of the Cruise collection. At £1,600, this is not a cheap solution to my bag woes, but it is a very exciting one. Trust me, you'll soon see this bag all over re-sale sites with hiked up prices as more and more people cotton on to its brilliance. It's not just that it's a Gucci bag, it's a bag that could actually help your day-to-day existence and I, for one, would like to return to the days when accessories were supposed to do just that. Except I'd like to keep the aforementioned pearl bag, as it really is pretty. Anyway, buy this bag before I do and be the envy of, well, certainly me. In the meantime, I'll try to think about something other than the fact that my life would be significantly improved just by owning the Gucci Giglio. Hannah Banks-Walker is Grazia's head of fashion commerce. She has previously written for the likes of Harper's Bazaar, The Financial Times, Glamour, Stylist, The Telegraph, Red, i-D and The Pool on everything from fashion to curly hair (hi!) to the patriarchy. Not necessarily in that order. Find her on Instagram and Twitter . But please don't look for her MySpace profile, which until now was the last time she wrote about herself in the third person.
Fashion Network
16-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Fashion Network
Cruise 2026 marks new era for Gucci as Demna Gvasalia prepares to take lead
Gucci staged a symbolically rich Cruise 2026 show in Florence, drawing from its archives to mark a new beginning. While heritage references are common among luxury houses, this moment carried added weight for Gucci—coming in the wake of Sabato De Sarno's departure and just months before the highly anticipated debut of new creative director Demna, set for July. The new chapter unfolded with the Cruise 2026 collection, unveiled in the heart of Florence. Models walked through the elegant first floor of Palazzo Settimanni—a 15th-century building owned by the Kering group and home to Gucci's archives—before continuing along Via delle Caldaie and concluding the show in Piazza Santo Spirito. The closure of the piazza to the public for the event sparked criticism from some local residents. For the occasion, Gucci transformed the square into an exclusive open-air venue. The brand polished the central fountain, removed graffiti, and arranged guest seating around the landmark, covering the costs. Nearby bars were temporarily closed, and the area was framed with tables and chairs. Among the celebrity attendees were actress Julia Garner, Viola Davis with Julius Tennon, Mark Ronson, Paul Mescal, and Jeff and Emily Goldblum. By opening its archive to the public in the city of its origin, Gucci honored its fashion legacy from 1921 to the present. The collection also paid tribute to Florence's centuries-old textile craftsmanship. Looks featured rich brocades, jacquards, silks, velvets, and lace embellished with rhinestones and fine embroidery. Some speculated whether Demna had a hand in the 42-look lineup, but Gucci clarified that its in-house creative team designed the collection. Demna is expected to take over creative leadership gradually. Key archival elements reappeared prominently. The double-G monogram appeared on sheer tights as rhinestone patterns, while the single G accentuated buckles, inlays, and heels. The silhouettes referenced the 1970s, with sharply tailored blazers and defined shoulders. Accessories included archival-style handbags and a new model, Giglio—named after Florence's symbolic lily—which was available for immediate purchase. The presentation also included high jewelry pieces made in collaboration with Pomellato: a necklace and a minaudière crafted in leather, gold, and pavé diamonds. The overall tone celebrated heritage, but without veering into nostalgia. 'The way something is done matters more than how much is done,' said CEO Stefano Cantino. 'This show authentically expresses Gucci's identity, in the place that most deeply preserves our story.'
The Guardian
16-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Gucci goes alfresco in Florence as it awaits buzzy new creative boss
If rebirth is what you want then Florence, home of the renaissance, is a good place to start. Gucci, which has just switched designers after a period of plunging sales – 24% down in the last quarter of 2024, and 25% down in the first of 2025 – showed its latest collection in a catwalk pageant that began in the 15th-century Palazzo Settimanni, where the actors Paul Mescal, Viola Davis and Jeff Goldblum, a Florentine resident, had front row seats, and continued on the city street outside to where Gucci employees and local fashion fans, seated in bars and cafes, watched an alfresco lap of the show. If you hit the factory reset button in Florence, and make it glamorous, can you call it a renaissance button? Gucci has its fingers crossed. In the most recent Lyst index, which tracks digital engagement to assess which names are leading the fashion conversation, Gucci fell five places to No 17, an ignominious decline for a proud Italian brand. After the abrupt departure of the designer Sabato De Sarno, let go just two weeks before Milan fashion week in February, the house awaits the arrival of buzzy new hire Demna, who will leave his current post at Balenciaga this summer and present his first Gucci collection later this year. An outdoor event is a risky move, and a thunderstorm hours before had the top brass jittery. But when the sun came out for a perfect Tuscan golden hour, it felt like the luck of Gucci, unable to catch a break for the past two years, might have turned. The design team had produced an upbeat parade of Gucci's greatest hits. Jewel-coloured brocade mini-shift dresses, kaftans slashed to the navel and lush faux-fur chubbies leant into the charismatic jet set 1960s glamour that is foundational to Gucci – think Elizabeth Taylor filming Cleopatra in Rome, or Jackie Onassis on holiday in Capri – while jodhpur silhouettes nodded to the equestrian heritage of the home of the horsebit loafer. There were forward-facing hat tips to the tastes of the incoming boss, in exaggerated quarterback shoulders and oversized coats, looks which Demna has made his signature during his decade at Balenciaga. And in the meantime, there was an astute sprinkling of easy-sell accessories: belts with double and single G hardware, oversized sunglasses and eyecatching painted shell jewellery. Florence, where Guccio Gucci founded his brand in 1921, was a tactical retreat to home turf, but Gucci will not be licking its wounds for long. Demna – an acclaimed but controversial Marmite appointment – is a punchy throw of the dice that aims at getting Gucci back on the front foot as a fashion leader. Owners Kering know that Gucci's best eras have been its most audacious: the 1990s, when Tom Ford reinvented its old-timey affluence into a sexualised sophistication that made shoppers all over the world go weak at the knees, and a decade ago when Alessandro Michele's exuberant and radical gender-fluid, vintage-curious, humour-led aesthetic made the brand meaningful for a new generation. Demna, who uses only his first name professionally, likes to ruffle feathers. He once replaced a Paris catwalk show with a specially made episode of The Simpsons, and caused outrage selling pre-scuffed dirty trainers for £400 and a premium leather take on Ikea's famous blue Frakta shopping tote for £1,600. A child refugee who fled Georgia as a child, he was one of the first to use the fashion week spotlight to show support for Ukraine. In 2023, an advertising campaign featuring children holding teddy bears dressed in bondage gear caused a global backlash, an error of taste and judgment for which he apologised. The Kering deputy CEO, Francesca Bellettini, has described a mood of optimism at Gucci. On Demna's appointment she insisted that 'the work that he is going to do is building on what we have been doing … not throwing everything away and starting from scratch, absolutely not'. But she added that 'after the nomination of Demna, I never received so many CVs of creative people and designers who want to join the team'.
Yahoo
13-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Gucci names Demna new aristic director, as he moves from Kering sister brand Balenciaga
ROME (AP) — Gucci announced Thursday that the Balenciaga artistic director Demna will take over the creative direction of the Italian luxury fashion house, starting in July. Gucci and its French parent Kering said in a statement that Demna 'has redefined modern luxury, earning global recognition and cementing his authority on the industry.'' Demna, who goes by one name, has been at Kering-owned Balenciaga for a decade. He brings with him the title of artistic director. See for yourself — The Yodel is the go-to source for daily news, entertainment and feel-good stories. By signing up, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy. 'I am truly excited to join the Gucci family,'' he said in a statement. ''It is an honor to contribute to a house that I deeply respect and have long admired.'' Demna showed his latest and last Balenciaga collection four days ago in Paris, dialing down the theatrics for a more saleable vision. The announcement ends speculation about Gucci's creative future after Sabato De Sarno's sudden exit just 2 1/2 weeks before the presentation of the Fall-Winter 2025-26 collection during Milan Fashion Week last month. De Sarno took over from Alessandro Michele, who revolutionized Gucci with gender-fluid, eclectic and romantic collections that rewrote Gucci's codes. However, his more essential collections failed to excite consumers.
The Independent
13-03-2025
- Entertainment
- The Independent
Gucci names Demna new aristic director, as he moves from Kering sister brand Balenciaga
Gucci announced Thursday that the Balenciaga artistic director Demna, who goes by one name, will take over the creative direction of the Italian luxury fashion house, starting in July. Gucci and its French parent Kering said in a statement that Demna 'has redefined modern luxury, earning global recognition and cementing his authority on the industry.'' Demna has been at Kering-owned Balenciaga for a decade. He brings with him the title of artistic director. 'I am truly excited to join the Gucci family,'' he said in a statement. ''It is an honor to contribute to a house that I deeply respect and have long admired.'' Demna showed his latest and last Balenciaga collection four days ago in Paris, dialing down the theatrics for a more saleable vision. The announcement ends speculation about Gucci's creative future after Sabato De Sarno's sudden exit just 2 1/2 weeks before the presentation of the Fall-Winter 2025-26 collection during Milan Fashion Week last month. De Sarno took over from Alessandro Michele, who revolutionized Gucci with gender-fluid, eclectic and romantic collections that rewrote Gucci's codes. However, his more essential collections failed to excite consumers.
