CHANGE OF PLANS: Sabato De Sarno has been planning for months to show his debut collection for Gucci on the streets of Milan’s Brera district, but the weather is not cooperating.
On Thursday evening, already damp and rainy in Milan, Gucci announced that, in light of the uncertain weather forecast for Friday, the day of the show, it was forced to change its location. The “Gucci Ancora” show will be staged indoors at the brand’s headquarters in Via Mecenate 77.
“This decision has been made with the utmost priority of ensuring the safety of all the production workers and offering the best possible experience for the guests, models, employees and event participants,” Gucci said in a statement. “Gucci extends its gratitude to the institutions, associations and the Brera neighborhood community for their collaboration, trust and unwavering support during these months.”
While hailing from Cicciano, a small town near Naples, De Sarno’s own years living in Milan led him to choose Brera for his first Gucci show. As reported, the idea was for his models to weave out of the Brera Art Academy and into the streets. “I used to have many friends studying in Brera and I liked to join them and look around the Accademia,” he told WWD, citing the Bar Jamaica in the ‘60s and ‘70s as “a place of interesting conversations, where artists and poets would meet. Milan is the city of opportunities, and I have always felt free there. It’s the city of fashion, but also of design, art and culture.”
He revealed he is not much into set designs and the streets in Brera would allow people to have the opportunity to see the clothes.
On Tuesday, De Sarno presented in Brera the first volume of his “Gucci Prospettive” series, which will accompany each of his collections for the brand. Stefano Collicelli Cagol, director of the Luigi Pecci Center for Contemporary Art in Prato, interpreted the vision for the first chapter, named “Milano Ancora.”
After three years of restoration, the sprawling Gucci Hub was completed in fall 2016, located in the historic Caproni aeronautics factory built in 1915.