As anticipation builds for Demna’s Gucci debut, the house revisits a storied icon: the Bamboo bag
Right now, all eyes are on Gucci, and the pending debut of Demna as new creative director in just over a week’s time. Backstage at his final Balenciaga show in July, he was already thinking ahead, effusing about the multitude of multifaceted aesthetic codes that are part and parcel of Gucci’s DNA – which he couldn't wait to get his hands on. So, glancing back while waiting for the future, it seems an apt time to celebrate a singular brand code – namely, the Gucci Bamboo bag, invented in 1947. That year, Guccio Gucci and his band of Florentine artisans decided to invent a new handbag, albeit framed by wartime restrictions and leather shortages threatening to hamper creativity. Rather, they necessitated invention – as both handle and closure for this new piece, Gucci decided to use bamboo, a then newly fashionable lightweight and plentiful import from Japan. A future classic was born – and, indeed, that bamboo handle has since become one of Demna’s much enthused codes, later transposed to backpacks and microbags, even twisted into jewellery or shoe high heels. For 2025, the steamed and curved bamboo became a ghost of its predecessor, executed in misty water-coloured resin, like a memory.
The Gucci Bamboo Bag is available in several colours and styles now.
