Sabato De Sarno Takes a Big First Step at Gucci
The forecast in Milan this week predicted heavy downpours on and off through Friday evening. So on Wednesday, the Gucci team made the decision to pull the plug on their intended show venue: outside the fine arts university Accademia di Brera. A last-minute location change didn’t feel like a great start for the house’s new creative director Sabato De Sarno, a 14-year veteran of Valentino whose appointment to the Italian fashion house was announced in January. With precipitation and pressure in the air—Gucci is Kering’s $10 billion baby, after all—De Sarno and his team quickly pivoted to a show inside of the Gucci headquarters, specifically a massive black warehouse with dimmed crimson-specked lighting. The starkness of the venue gave more weight to the anticipation of the house’s new era, one that has come with a lot of speculation about where the ship will head after eight years of a very distinct, and hugely successful, branding and aesthetic overhaul with a large fan base.
Though it was difficult to actually see in the dark space, a grand cast of celebrities invited to the show–including Julia Roberts, Ryan Gosling, Paul Mescal, Kendall Jenner, and Bad Bunny, among others–still shined brightly. Of course, model and close friend of De Sarno’s Daria Werbowy was there too, after appearing in the designer’s first ads for the house this summer wearing nothing but a swimsuit bottom with gold “G” hardware and new jewelry pieces. The preview had sparked a lot of questions: will the collection bring back the Gucci of the ‘90s? Will there be logo thongs? Will Werbowy walk the runway!?
After guests made the long trek to their seats and settled in, it was time for Mr. De Sarno to answer these questions. He titled his Spring 2024 collection “Ancora”, which in Italian translates directly to “again” but can be used to describe something nostalgic, something that holds meaning in both the past and the present. Indeed, Gucci is a heritage house, built on a long history of high highs and low lows and more than a few reincarnations. And De Sarno’s intent with his new gig seems to be to build a bridge between all the versions of the Guccis we know and love, from past to present, and from classic to hot to experimental.
As the models began to make their way around the hollow runway space, moving to dance tracks courtesy of the show’s music director Mark Ronson, what present-day Gucci might stand for started to come into focus. Every piece of clothing had a customer and a purpose: a dusty pink jacket with covered buttons for the ladies, a pair of booty shorts for the influencers, mini dresses, either monochromatic or embellished with rhinestones for the Gen-Z fan girl, a gray wool coat with subtle Gucci-hued red and green grosgrain ribbon lining the back slit for lovers of the classics.
The same goes for the shoes and accessories: a weird and cool-as-hell platform loafer, as well as a more traditional silhouette without any unneeded flourishes. Bags came in every shape and size and color and embellishment, from mini bamboo top handles to sharp Gucci logo buckets. There was dressed-up denim and a standout fringed skirt styled with a loose tank top. The gray logo hoodie felt a bit out of place but there’s someone who wants just that.
Whatever the luxury customer’s version of an essential is, De Sarno made it for them. He’s incredibly talented as a designer, and also seems to be a shrewd businessman as well. This collection is going to sell, there’s no doubt about it, but it also felt like a palette cleanser, one that didn’t beat us over the head with archival references (what a revelation!), but instead gave us a fresh start for a house so steeped in Italian history and culture. Fashion folks are always ready for some lightning to strike, for some giant, genius shift and rush of inspiration. Often though, without the eccentricities and provocations, a show can just be about pretty great fashion too. De Sarno’s Gucci is well-designed and astute. While he hasn’t caused any seismic shift yet, he has in many ways cleared the path in order to start moving forward. Nothing’s been left behind, but the ancora’s been lifted.
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