The build-up to Sabato De Sarno’s debut collection has been crescendoing for weeks, the weather however had not got the memo. The show location was supposed to be outside, on the streets of the arty Brera district, but bruising skies and the threat of thunderous storms had everyone relocated to the cavernous Gucci Hub HQ on the edge of town.
The fervour however was not dampened. On the front row sat Kendall Jenner with boyfriend Bad Bunny, Jodie Turner-Smith brought her mum, Julia Roberts, Emma Roberts, Ryan Gosling, Paul Mescal, Halle Bailey as well as campaign face Daria Werbowy.
Out into the darkness, to a pumping Mark Ronson devised soundtrack (featuring Romy’s fabulously breath-y Loveher) came the new, assured Gucci world.
De Sarno clearly understood his brief, extrapolating the house codes and iconography with a cool confidence. The opening look, a black overcoat worn with a white vest and tailored micro shorts set the tone, a high low mix. Grey sweatshirts paired with patent pencil skirts embossed with the GG emblem, navy sailor knits edged with gobstopper crystals, lime spangly embellished tops with loose blue jeans, a black hooded anorak with a silk lace trimmed top and white trainers. Legs were fully revealed in tiny hot pants, paired with tailored blazers — the shorts suit is becoming quite the motif of Milan Fashion Week.
Models walked on a tall platform loafer, carrying the Jackie bag in De Sarno’s new red, “rosso ancora”. In the notes left on guests’ seats De Sarno wrote that “It is a story of fabulous, diverse people; it’s Getty images of cool people of all ages, and it’s inclusive as in everyone is welcome.” Flashes of spangle came in the closing looks, black tailoring again but paired with delicious low heeled pumps dripping in silver embellishments. In a show cleverly packed with wearable, covetable pieces, Gucci’s commercial might looks set to soar. In the end there was little rain, and as the show ended, the Gucci crowd walked out into blistering sunshine. A new dawn indeed.
