In a shift, the Italian House spent seasons trying to hone in on a distinct vision of its codes. Few years in, offerings felt tasteful—pairing retro minimalism with a (somewhat) boudoir, cohesive edge.
MILAN, ITALY – GUCCI’s pendulum continues swinging in an undaunted unison for next Fall. As a house whose usual game is creating fashion from a myriad of ideas and styles, and hodgepodging them together into a final, meticulously-thought creation, AW25 returned to this clean notion.
While the vision can sometimes feel like design scraps from the studio floor picked up and brought to life, the brand’s recent announcement of Sabato De Sarno‘s departure quivered the entire industry, driving it to a tumultuous state: where does this lead to?
This autumn, offerings became more polished with a dash of retro-like glamour: in an inversion of Gucci’s pared-back approach, the lineup appeared as though it was finely deconstructed rather than thrown together. It worked.
The celebration of beauty in the broken echoes of the past, brought forth a slew of tasteful wardrobe pieces for the present within a dark green location, interlocking the famed G of the catwalk that stands for the founder—Guccio Gucci—as an emblem that celebrates its fiftieth anniversary this year. The dualism splashed across menswear and womenswear ushering a synergy as a whole, like a double helix, yin and yang, or the lemniscate of infinity, each defines the other.
Worthy of note was the presence of tailored severity placed against a playful thread, which featured breezy fabrics traversing the entirety of the collection, transposed into the women’s arena. Sharpness and delineation are strongly featured across suiting, yet at times are slashed by a sultry dash of flesh, a touch of colour, or a subversive crepe de chine.
Showing a softness at odds with traditional tweeds, classic British men’s tailoring motifs are mirrored in the patterns found in sinuous crepe shirting and blouses. The pendulum continues in a sartorial juxtaposition.
A dialogue between hard and soft runs apace in brushed mohair shirting, mother-of-pearl leathers, coated wools and bonded boucles, punctuating fabric experimentation while embracing classicism and subversive minimalism. The most impressive looks were executed by colour harmonies that conjured both womenswear and menswear outings in shades of greens, greys and browns.
The overarching message was one of defiant traditionalism and optimism, exploring the future of the house’s codes and the relationship between perceived weakness and potential strength, all while celebrating what’s to come. Fittingly, the final look on the menswear front was an all-white suit, to create a clean slate for the next creative suitor. Indeed, hope might be the best resistance.
by Chidozie Obasi