Gucci’s latest project sees nine artists from around the world reimagine Gucci’s iconic silk scarves in a myriad of bold, graphic colours
Recently, Gucci has been busy celebrating its rich silk legacy. Last month, the Italian label unveiled the 90x90 project – a limited-edition scarf series featuring nine international artists, and now, it welcomes Gucci: The Art of Silk, a new coffee table book chronicling the house’s storied history of silk scarves.
The 90x90 project takes its name from the dimensions of Gucci’s signature silk square. Nine artists from around the world reinterpreted five themes that crop up in the Italian house’s illustrious archive: flora, Animalia, nautical, equestrian, and the GG Monogram. The lineup of artists included Robert Barry, Everett Glenn, Sara Leghissa, Currynew, Jonny Niesche, Gio Pastori, Walter Petrone, Yu Cai, and Inji Seo, all of whom created unique, collectable fashion items in their own right. Highlights include Chinese illustrator Yu Cai’s candy-coloured take on horsebits and saddles, Seoul-based artist Inji Seo pop reimagining of Gucci’s monogram, and Australian artist Jonny Niesche’s haunting, abstract colour mirages.
“Approaching a fashion archive is, first and foremost, a tireless exercise in observation and interpretation,” says the house. “In the case of a scarf archive, it’s also like opening a storybook.”
It’s this sense of narrative and visual evolution that anchors Gucci: The Art of Silk, a lavishly illustrated tome published by Assouline. Curated by Jo-Ann Furniss, the book is the first dedicated to the history of Gucci’s silk scarves, beginning with the iconic Flora print created in 1966 for Princess Grace of Monaco. Through never-before-seen archival imagery and behind-the-scenes photography from Gucci’s Florentine ateliers, it traces how the silk scarf has evolved under successive creative directors – from Tom Ford to Alessandro Michele and now Sabato De Sarno.
The book situates these designs within broader cultural and artistic movements, drawing connections to Renaissance Florence, the house’s ties to celebrity and royalty, and the enduring craftsmanship that underpins each piece. Its slipcase features the original Flora print (forty-three varieties of hand-painted flowers and insects) paying homage to the design that launched it all.
Find out more about Gucci’s 90x90 project here, and purchase Gucci: The Art of Silk here.