After Sabato De Sarno’s abrupt departure last month, all eyes are on Gucci as the brand enters a phase of creative and business reshuffling. The studio team delivers with a fall/winter 2025 collection that confidently brings together all the codes of the House, established throughout the decades. There were neat little ‘60s shifts, a reference to the decade when Gucci ready-to-wear was first launched for the jet-set, Jackie O crowd. There was sleek, sexy ‘90s minimalism—a callback to the Tom Ford era. There were eye-popping colours and textures that evoked Alessandro Michele’s tenure. And then there was the impeccable tailoring that De Sarno honed in on during his two-year stint.
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Tying all those threads together was a sense of character—think of the kooky Margot Tenenbaum from the Wes Anderson film, or the women of the Milanese bourgeoisie you see so often on the streets of this city. These are women who have wardrobes full of prim and proper clothes, but have chosen to wear them in not the most prim and proper ways: Big faux fur coats thrown over lacy little slips and camisoles; ultra-short shift dresses worn only with sheer stockings and a silk scarf tied over a baseball cap; a fuzzy grey cardigan over a bright orange embroidered skirt.
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The acid hues and their eclectic pairings were a particular highlight of this collection. A mink-brown faux fur was anything but dowdy when jolted with a flash of neon green or purple. A skirt suit could come off matronly, but not when it’s in shiny bubblegum pink worn with a bright red knit. A light tan coat was the perfect counterpoint to electric aquamarine. The team also experimented with materials—leather was made to look like mother-of-pearl, wools were coated, and boucles bonded—giving classic silhouettes a more unusual structure.
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Back to those House codes. There are a couple milestones in the brand’s oeuvre this year. The GG emblem—for Guccio Gucci—is turning 50. It was represented by the interlocking runway. More cleverly deployed was the Horsebit, which turns 70, and used here in ways big and small. It became oversized hardware on equally oversized bags; otherwise, it showed up as the most delicate jewellery looped around ankles or dangling down the backs of dresses cut super low.