The South Bank is set for a serious glow-up this evening as the fashion world descends on SE1 for Gucci’s latest show at Tate Modern. Fashion editors are used to being whisked off to glamorous, far-flung locations for May’s round of cruise shows. These have become a spin-off marketing industry as luxury players vie for the biggest spending EIP clients (extremely important, not just very) and the attention of social media users. Do pluck your tiny violin for the poor London-based souls who were hoping for an injection of Avios points: previous shows have seen them jet off to Seoul and southern Italy. This season, Southwark will have to do.
The luxury world has a bit of a Cool Britannia crush right now. Gucci is following Chanel, which showed in Manchester’s Northern Quarter in December; in June, Dior is taking over Perthshire for its Drummond Castle show, hosting guests at Gleneagles Hotel. The Italian giant — now led by Sabato De Sarno, marking his first year as creative director at the house — has form in the capital. The legend goes that founder Guccio Gucci worked as a porter at The Savoy and it was heaving the guests’ luggage around that gave him the idea to create his own leather house. Fittingly, Gucci will host a pre-show cocktail party at the hotel tonight.
