Gucci Taps Its 90s Archives For The Fall/Winter 2023 Collection

Photo Credit: Courtesy of Gucci

This season, Gucci presented a nostalgic Fall/Winter 2023 Collection in Milan reminiscent of the fashion house’s Gucci by Tom Ford era in the nineties. The collection served as an interregnum collection designed by the brand’s existing design studio following the departure of previous Creative Director Alessandro Michele while awaiting incoming Creative Director Sabato De Sarnos, whose first collection will be shown in September. 

When the imaginations of separate minds splice across eras, the concept of heritage takes shape. This collection connects the creative cultures that cross-pollinate the history of the fashion house in an evocative but contemporary proposal. In an exuberant conversation between past and future, the collection reflects on Gucci as a cultural constant and reinvigorates the influence of the visionaries that fronted it, paving the way for a new dimension to its heritage.

Photo Credit: Courtesy of Gucci

The show unfolds in Gucci’s HQ, where spherical podiums represent the collaborative circularity at the heart of Gucci’s creative community. Models that span recent eras of the house take the runway in silhouettes that recall Gucci’s erotic and glamorous form language of the 1990s and early 2000s but paint it in the electrically sumptuous color palette of the 2010s. 

Playing with the familiar feeling of returning to a dimension you once knew only to experience it bigger or smaller, tailoring magnifies while shirting and two-piece tops and skirts appear minimized. Suits in wool or leather cut an oversized frame with voluminous shoulders, dropped neckline, and low-riding trousers. Skirts appear in longline or knee-length expressions in sheer fabrics and embellished lace suggestive of lingerie. The idea echoes in a statement crystal-encrusted GG metal bra that sets for tone exaggerated cocktail jewelry that drapes around necklines and busts and cascades dramatically to the floor.

Photo Credit: Courtesy of Gucci

Tactile oversized knits in brushed mohair and looped yarns and faux fur coats hold a strong presence with an amplified sensory approach while eveningwear conjures the shapes of hearts – a symbol of the fashion house’s core – in a bustier dress and an empire gown.

Honoring the archival icon, the Jackie bag appears in its original shape but is softened in construction and adapted in two-tone colors and GG-embossed leather. The classic Gucci loafer is elevated on rubber soles, while snow boots originally designed for the 1960s ski collection re-emerge tacked up with horse bits. Kitten heels dominate square sandals, wide-shaft boots, and tiger head-embellished sandals inspired by the Dionysus bag. Finally, boxing boots and basketball sneakers inject the collection with a faint hint of sportswear.