GUCCI PRESENTS FIVE DESIGN ICONS AT ITS FLAGSHIP STORE

From an idea of Creative Director Sabato De Sarno, Gucci Design Ancora is a special project co-curated by Michela Pelizzari. From April 15th 2024, five icons of Italian design, reedited and customized, are showcased in an immersive exhibition conceived by Spanish architect Guillermo Santomà at Gucci’s flagship store in via Monte Napoleone, 7. From April 21st 2024, a special edition of the objects will be available online on gucci.com.

• Storet by Nanda Vigo for Acerbis (1994, reedition 2020)
• Clessidra rug, Portaluppi Pattern Project by Nicolò Castellini Baldissera (great grandson of Piero Portaluppi) from an iconic design of Piero Portaluppi, edited by cc-tapis (2024)
• Parola by Gae Aulenti and Piero Castiglioni for FontanaArte (1980)
• Le Mura by Mario Bellini for Tacchini (1972, reedition 2022)
• Opachi by Tobia Scarpa for Venini (1960, reedition 2021)

“Through Design Ancora, Gucci doesn’t simply celebrate old icons, it creates new ones,” explains Michela Pelizzari, founder of Milan-based creative agency P:S, which co-curated the project, “The aura emanating from the brand spotlights five pieces by Italian masters that are perfect from a design standpoint but less known to the general public.”

The chosen objects represent the golden age of Italian design, while also reminding us of the important relationship between designers and brands, craftsmanship and industrial production. All objects are re-edited in Rosso Ancora, the red hue chosen by De Sarno to mark the beginning of Gucci’s new creative chapter.

Gucci Design Ancora comes to life at the Gucci flagship store in Via Monte Napoleone, 7. In every room, the curved walls in green – a color chosen by Sabato De Sarno - contribute to blurring boundaries and creating a metaphysical space in which each object appears on its own, displayed as an idea rather than as a mere product.

“If we had put the objects all together, we would have created a living room. Instead, we decided to remove the boundaries given by how we use these objects and create a sort of limbo,” explains Guillermo Santomà, who is known for a multidisciplinary approach merging design, architecture, sculpture and scenography, “Floating objects don’t have meaning or a function. They are just shape, materiality, color.”

The same visual approach is applied to the windows on Via Monte Napoleone, 7. In one of them, a pair of Gucci Cub3d — a limited-edition sneaker created combining 3D-printed elements and the House’s own Demetra material — float in the middle of the air and rotate on their own in a magnetic installation. In another one, a 3D printer is displayed as a unique object customized by Santomà himself.