Sabato De Sarno can play the most uplifting Italian music, riff on Tom Ford and Frida Gianini’s archives, have all the models of the moment walk his runway and talk lots about big feelings, but I still don’t his Gucci. When you unpack the spring-summer 2025 collection from an envelope of good-looking marketing ploy, you end up with unimaginative, poorly edited and most of the time stiff-looking clothes that are neither desirable or anything close to jet-set style that seemed to be this season’s key inspiration.
P.s The neon-green bathrobe in Gucci monogram must be a joke. It’s 2024, come on!
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We’re entering Sabato De Sarno‘s third season at Gucci, but nothing has really changed since his debut. His menswear collections are slightly more persuasive than womenswear, but the spring-summer 2025 attempt largely feels like a Prada by Miuccia and Raf afterthought. The clothes are repeating: same over-sized coats, work-jackets and shirts return to the runway a couple of times, just in different colors and prints, as if De Sarno really believed they are reinventing the wheel. There are bits of kinky sprinkles that somehow add at least some flavor to the designer’s menswear – like leather briefs and fishnet tops – but that’s not enough to make a statement. The brand keeps on bringing up “emotions” in its communication, but I still feel nothing looking at De Sarno’s design. Believe me, I took myself to a Gucci store in search for all these “big feelings“, but these clothes don’t speak to me even IRL.
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It’s really interesting to observe how badly Sabato De Sarno‘s Gucci tries to force everyone into thinking the brand – in its current situationship – is a “feeling“. You rather catch feelings, especially the good ones, instinctively and spontaneously. Genuinely. Not when somebody signals it in such a straightforward manner. De Sarno’s first resort collection traveled from Milan to London, and it aimed to somehow tell a story that connects the city and the Italian brand. I didn’t grasp that press release blah-blah at all. Just like I didn’t entirely get the point of the location – Tate Modern – and the plant-filled runway setting. If you want to position a brand as an art-loving platform, instead of stripping a London museum to bare walls and place tons of greenery inside, why not focus around some actual artworks that are contextually or emotionally close to the designer?
And now the clothes. Yes, resort 2025 is in some way better than De Sarno’s previous attempts, because at least it’s not repeating three styles throughout 50 looks. And there’s finally some range in terms of style. But here’s where the real problem starts. If not for the eventual Gucci logos and appearance of Jackie and Blondie bags, it’s really difficult to catch where the actual Gucciness is hiding in this collection. Not to mention De Sarno’s footprint which still feels blurry and indistinct. Some of these 1970s-inspired looks gave hints of Miu Miu and Coach. The pleated finale dresses could easily be Victoria Beckham (ironically a designer who often has trouble with finding her own voice – at least the eveningwear is emblematic!). The denim part of the line-up felt like the many iterations Pierpaolo Piccioli used to deliver at Valentino (where Sabato worked at before Gucci). Some of the outerwear and pieces covered with sequin-embellished checks could equally have a Burberry tag on and no one would question that. What was most confusing however were the vintage-y pussy-bows that instantly made you think of Alessandro Michele’s highly-memorable debut for Gucci, an instant breakthrough for not only the stagnating brand at the time, but 2010s fashion in general. Their presence seemed to say that there’s a large Gucci client base that wants that kind of style back as they don’t identify themselves with De Sarno’s reductive minimalism. So… I think Gucci fails to be a (good) feeling. Especially in times when the demand for luxury is decreasing and people investing in fashion want ingenuity and authenticity.
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In the latest Gucci show, I literally saw three things, repeated in different, trendy-looking colours and subtle lenght differences: a peacoat in exaggerated, rounded shape; a long, masculine coat (eventually embellished with sequins); and a wool dress with lace inserts. Well, Sabato De Sarno has a thing for repetition, and we’ve experienced that already with his first menswear collection that was a mirror reflection of his debut womenswear. Will the autumn-winter 2024 variations on three wardrobe staples sell? Probably yes. But is it fashion that’s worthwhile of a more complex consideration, delivering any food for thought or sparking emotions? Not really.
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