At Gucci, No Creative Director But Many Fun Ways to Hold Bags
Gucci is in creative director limbo. Its Fall/Winter 2025 collection was "presented by the Gucci design office," according to a February press release announcing the departure of former creative lead Sabato De Sarno. In other words, it's time to look backwards and celebrate heritage!
As such, according to a press release, the Gucci FW25 collection was ostensibly intended as a tribute to the interlocking "G" motif created by house founder Guccio Gucci. Yep, all checks out.
But the handbag etiquette? Different story.
By most standards, Gucci FW25 was pretty classic Gucci, a co-ed runway presentation rich with monogrammed tights, fur coats, boxy blazers, and trim slacks pooling onto Gucci loafers. The snug fits and poppy colors are holdouts from the De Sarno era, which likely leaked into this new collection despite the former CD's conspicuous absence.
But the main event, at least as far as I'm concerned, was the inexplicable verticalizing of several plump Gucci weekender bags.
For no conceivable reason, a handful of models clutched these quite sumptuous suede duffels with a clenched fist, as if they were trying to keep the bags at arm's length while taking them to the curb.
That was the show's single oddest bag moment but far from the only one.
More conventional bag-toting techniques were utilized for some of the strap-laden clutches but, otherwise, Gucci is rendering handles verboten for FW25.
One model in a shaggy cardigan gripped the lid of a messenger bag so fiercely that its entire silhouette was warped; similarly, the shoulder strap remained tucked inside one small shoulder bag, which was instead tugged from the top; the bamboo handles of several monchrome leather bags were ignored in favor of crumpling its plush leather form.
I don't know what Gucci's new leather goods did to deserve such aggro treatment — talk about putting the clutch in "clutch" — but their positioning was the sole aberration in an otherwise patiently crisp collection deeply deferential to Gucci heritage, which was made overtly clear by the double-"G"-shaped runway.
