Luxury expert Daniel Langer looks at Gucci's new creative director’s debut collection at the Milan Fashion Week
Gucci’s new creative director, Sabato De Sarno, who joined the brand following the departure of Alessandro Michele, unveiled his first collection in Milan last month, which coincided with the brand’s Ancora marketing takeover in the world’s most important fashion capitals. In time with his debut, there was also a social media reset that eliminated all remaining traces of the Michele era and signalled a fresh start.
The first collection received mixed feedback from fashion experts. This ranged from enthusiastic voices celebrating Gucci’s return to form, exclusivity, craftsmanship, and more sexy silhouettes—that some commented as a less provocative and more subtle homage to the “sex sells” aesthetic from the Tom Ford era— to critics who pointed out that the collection was playing it too safe, and focused too much on the technical side instead othe opulence, confidence and emotional attitude that was linked to Gucci’s meteoric rise during the Michele era.
It is important to highlight that every new designer is under immense scrutiny and pressure when developing and showing their debut collection, and therefore De Sarno’s debut is probably an attempt to gauge reactions before further calibrating and developing his creative approach. There is no question, however, that the brand is embarking on a radical departure from the era of Michele with the aim to position Gucci as more upmarket, and less of an aspirational luxury brand.
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De Sabato himself hinted at a possible and significant departure, and emphasised that the brand wants to give people “the opportunity to fall in love with fashion—and ancora”, which was the theme of the campaign that accompanied his debut show.
The first visible step Gucci is taking towards presenting itself as more upmarket is the introduction of Gucci “salons”, which are exclusive boutiques reserved only for the brand’s very important clients—a page taken from the playbook of Chanel and Dior. However, it is critical now to avoid making the same mistake as Frida Giannini had when she was Gucci’s creative director, where the fashion collections were beautifully crafted but lacked the storytelling of the brand’s core values.
Even now, when you look at the brand today, the storytelling is ambiguous and the imagery could be that of other fashion brands. However, clarity of storytelling is the most critical driver of perceived brand value, and in times when the execution changes, staying true to the core values is more critical than ever.