The Milan Fashion Week for Fall/Winter 2025 started a show presented by the Gucci design team without a creative director, following the recent departure of Sabato De Sarno’s brief tenure at the Italian Maison.
“Transitional, studio-designed collections are often unremarkable affairs—but not this time. The design team didn’t just use this opportunity to create palate cleansers between creative visions. Instead, the collection lays down the foundations of the Gucci house with a sense of sprezzatura, drawing inspiration from ’60s-inflected dressing—the era when Gucci RTW was first introduced,” Ian Loh, Editor-in-Chief of Grazia Malaysia reported. The art of sprezzatura, for those uninitiated, is essential for the Italian style, where a studied carelessness or nonchalant attitude is not only a way of living but also a sartorial approach that has always been an intrinsic part of the Gucci world from the beginning.
The show opened with a live orchestra performance based on an original score by award-winning composer and conductor, Justin Hurwitz. Models strutted along the entwined dark green Interlocking G runway. While the emblem that stands for the founder Guccio Gucci celebrates its fiftieth anniversary this year, the double G also symbolises the coming together of men’s and women’s that brings to mind a double helix, the yin and yang and also the infinity symbol—an apt creative decision for the season as the brand showcases both men’s and the women’s on the runway.
Aside from blending both gender codes, there’s also an ongoing dialogue of hard and soft, presented through texture, colour and silhouette. Lacy slips in fresh zesty colours such as candy pink, lilac blush or burnt orange create a strong contrast against the looks that feature boxier and structured outerwear in stoic grey or tranquil brown; tweed, wool, or leathers with mother-of-pearl treatment that emphasised precise tailoring show a subtle flash of flesh, peeping through slits on the back of the pant hems.
As the show note reads, this is “a continuum of craft, taste and culture that passes through time”, this is a celebratory collection and also a walkthrough of the rich history of the heritage brand. From the late ‘60s jet-set glam to the ‘90s risqué by Tom Ford—a historical turning point for the brand’s restructuring, and Alessandro Michele’s chaotic romance to Sabato de Sarno’s fondness for acid-hued palette. Threading the amalgamation of era-defining styles is the Horsebit motif—a badge for a fashion house that is celebrating its 70th anniversary too. Inspired by the hardware for horse bridles, the enduring symbol—comprising of a double ring and a bar, reflects the equestrian heritage. Incorporated into bags of varied sizes, loafers, slippers, and readymade pop-art-inspired jewellery pieces such as wrapped around necklaces that fall to a T when paired with plunging collars.
“It seems like there are still plenty of celebrations happening at the house of Gucci, even without a Creative Director. Time might change, people might go but you know what they say—the party must go on,” Loh shared.
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