Demna takes us back to a Gucci era, with all its slick yet meaningful commodification of desire, that we knew and loved
“Guccicore” is the title Demna gave his first Gucci cruise collection, showing today in New York. And, as that name suggests, what this new creative tenure has thus far indicated is a whole-hearted embrace of the hallmark signs and signifiers of Gucci, both abstract and blatantly obvious. They were there in his debut show in February, in its cling-film tight body-consciousness and a throbbing, latent sexuality that winked back knowingly at the brand’s Tom Ford glory days, but with a sense of the now – of selfies and hook-up apps and filler by the truckload. What’s clever about it is that it’s taking us back to a Gucci era, with all its slick yet meaningful commodification of desire, that we knew and loved, including Demna himself. Then again, for a new generation of Guccicore fanatics – like the rapper Fakemink, born a year after Ford left, who walked in Demna’s first show – it’s a brave new world, to be experienced for the first time. The big idea is across the board, and has filtered down to all-important accessories too, to reworkings of the universally known Gucci double-G canvas and green and red webbing straps, here fashioned into a snug half-moon handbag that slyly hints, again, at archival greatest hits from 30 or so years ago. Gucci, to the core.
The Gucci Luneta small crossbody messenger bag is available to buy now.
