Gucci is known for its vibrancy, extravagance, experimentation, and offbeat flair. To me, it’s almost like another world that you enter into. In this episode, I look into how this Gucci “world” came to be, analyzing the house’s central codes and taking a peek inside the minds of its creators.

After detailing Gucci’s 20th-century history—which began in Italy with Guccio Gucci in 1921, and was later revived by Tom Ford in the 1990s—I delve into the vast influence of Alessandro Michele, who currently serves as Gucci’s creative director. Michele has been nothing short of revolutionary for the brand: His designs question and undermine traditional ideas of beauty, gender, and aesthetic cohesion in ways that are eccentric and provocative, yet still digestible and in line with the house’s longstanding codes. In the video, I detail two of Michele’s experimental projects: the Gucci Garden, a museum-store in Florence, and the Gucci Vault, an online version of the Garden.

Ultimately, for me, Gucci is the brand it is today because it avoids pretense and is unabashedly itself. First and foremost, Gucci is about loving fashion—embracing beauty in different forms, wearing what you love, and making it your own. That spirit is, I believe, what will keep it forever young.

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Produced by The Slowdown (www.slowdown.tv/)

Theme music: Cate Le Bon (www.catelebon.com/)

Credits:
Gucci: www.gucci.com/us/en/

References (by order of appearance):

Guccio Gucci, founder of Gucci
Savoy Hotel, City of Westminster, London, England
Gucci Shop on 7, Via della Vigna Nuova in Florence, Italy
Aldo, Vasco, and Rodolfo Gucci
Gucci Store, New York City
Gucci Store, Palm Beach, Florida
Tom Ford, Fashion Designer, Creative Director of Gucci (1994 - 2004)
Tom Ford for Gucci (1995)
Fall Collection (1995)
Fall Collection (1996)
Fall Collection (1997)
Spring Collection (1996)
Alessandro Michele, Fashion Designer, Creative Director of Gucci (2015 - present)
Fall Collection (2015)
Fall/Winter Collection (2018)
Fall/Winter Collection (2015)
Fall/Winter Collection (2017)
Fall/Winter Collection (2018)
Fall Collection (2015)
Gucci Cruise Show (2020)
Fall/Winter Collection (2017)
Fake/Not Collection (2020)
Fall Collection (2017)
Original Flora Print (1960)
Grace Kelly, Actress and Princess of Monaco
Flora Scarf (2013)
Gucci Presents: A Conversation with Kris Knight (2014)
Richard Ginori Porcelain Collection (1980s)
Emma Stone, Actress
Margot Robbie, Actress
Flora Scarf (2013)
Aldo Gucci, Eldest son of Guccio Gucci, Chairman of Gucci (1953 - 1986)
Stripe Glasses
Stripe Sneakers
Gucci Horsebit
Gucci Loafers
Brigitte Bardot, Actress
Dustin Hoffman, Actor
Francis Ford Coppola, Film Director
Alain Delon, Actor
Jodie Foster, Actress
Peter Sellers, Actor
Jane Birkin, Singer and Actress
A$AP Rocky, Musician
Bamboo Bags, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis
American socialite, writer, photographer, and book editor who served as first lady of the United States from 1961 to 1963
Elle Fanning, Actress
Cate Blanchett, Actress
Jodie Turner-Smith, Actress
Harry Styles, Musician
Fake Jackie Bag (2020)
Jackie 1961 (2020)
Dionysus Bag (2015)
Lana Del Ray, Musician
Jared Leto, Actor and Musician
Florence Welch, Musician
Natalie Portman, Actress
Margot Robbie, Actress
Salma Hayek, Actress
Sienna Miller, Actress
Spring/Summer Collection (2016)
Meghan Markle, Actress and Duchess of Sussex
Kendall Jenner, Model
Gucci Garden, Palazzo Becchio, Florence, Italy
Inside the Gucci Museum and Restaurant,Courtesy William Adiguna
Emilia Burger
Gucci Vault, online concept store
An Inside Look at Gucci Vault, Courtesy HauteLeMode
Aria Collection (2021)
Gucci Aria (2021)
Floria Sigismondi, Film Director
Gucci Aria: Behind The Scenes with Alessandro Michele (2021)
Fake/Not T-Shirt