Salma Hayek at the Gucci Cosmos Vernissage at 180 The Strand, London. Photo by Dave Benett. Courtesy Gucci
Unbeknown to many, the story of the Italian house of Gucci, began in London. In 1897, a teenage Guccio Gucci applied for a job at the The Savoy Hotel, and was hired to man the elevator. For the seven minutes it would take to accompany guests to the top floor, he would observe them, their habits, their clothes, and their luggage. Upon returning to Italy, he decided to dedicate himself to the tastes of the international elite. In Florence, in 1921, he founded his eponymous leathergoods house. What would unfurl were era-defining classics, grounded in the finest Italian craftsmanship and tradition that defined but also influenced society and aesthetic tastes.
Gucci Eden room at Gucci Cosmos. Courtesy Gucci
The exhibition is conceived and designed by British contemporary artist Es Devlin and curated by Italian fashion theorist and critic Maria Luisa Frisa. It is presented not in chronological order, but through themes and ideas. From Gucci, to his sons Aldo and Rodolfo, and the creative directors Tom Ford, Frida Giannini, Alessandro Michele, and most recently Sabato De Sarno. “As a creative endeavor and expression of the times, the House and its history over the past century can be mapped through an ability to evolve and, more broadly, to expand on the mutability of our own consciousness and ability to make cognitive shifts,” says Es Devlin. “Rather like a garment itself that is able to be changed and re-tailored, like a shed skin that constantly renews itself.”
Of shifting the exhibition to London, and therefore adapting it to the new space, Frisa comments, “It is a challenge to work on an exhibition that evolves based on different spaces and the atmosphere of the cities that host it. This therefore demands reflection on the special connection between London and fashion, to reconfigure the relationship between the elements and the…
