Gucci took advantage of the presentation of their Spring 2024 Menswear collection in Milan to celebrate the anniversary of the creation of the Gucci Horsebit loafer by Aldo Gucci in 1953.
Organized at the art venue Spazio Maiocchi, the tribute was designed as a multidisciplinary immersive experience, featuring live performances, exhibitions, and curated videos by Alessio Ascari, the creative director of Spazio Maiocchi. The space was transformed into a sort of counter-cultural meta-country club called The Gucci Horsebeat Society, where artworks by ten promising artists (mostly working with digital or AI-generated imagery) reinterpreted the Horsebit iconography.
The looks from Gucci’s spring collection were displayed on mannequins in a room fully wallpapered by Australian image-maker Ed Davis, whose collage motifs were also repeated in an oversized silk bowling shirt and skater shorts set. Both tailored pieces and sportswear had amplified proportions while retaining their classic construction.
There was a clear balancing act between the past and the future. On one hand, three-piece tailored suits were streamlined into sharp-cut versions with minimal embellishments, refreshed by elongated jacket shapes, shortened sleeves and cuffs, and the revival of ’70s bootcut trousers. On the other hand, a stream of inventive techno-quirk was noticeable in the optically treated surfaces of workwear/sportswear hybrids, where the GG logo was digitally distorted into an enameled effect, laser-printed on denim-like leather, or rendered in a three-dimensional spongy fabric.
We also witnessed a fluid and oversized hoodie/shorts set, its fabric woven with silver metallic threads that made it changeable and pliable, and a washed denim jacket tucked into wide-leg trousers embedded with micro mirror tiles, refracting light like a portable disco ball.
The event definitely whetted the appetite for the arrival of new creative director Sabato De Sarno, who will be celebrated in September.
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