Still mourning Alessandro Michele's exit from Gucci? Your chance to purchase a piece of the designer's legacy has landed in the form of a crystal-encrusted, teddy bear-shaped minaudière, a standout piece from Michele's final collection for the Italian house.
Available at Gucci's website for a cool £35,130 (that's over $43,000), the bag is part cute, part creepy, and entirely luxurious. Covered in multicolored crystals, the bear's stomach boasts a sparkly rendition of Gucci's double-G monogram. Outfitted with a gold nose, clasp, and chain, the kitschy accessory is all bling, no brakes.
As posh as the bag is, it's not all sparkle and glamor. The bear's enamel eyes are unsettlingly realistic, reminiscent of the animatronic eyeballs one might find on a humanlike robot. Leave it to Michele, who once sent severed heads down the runway, to add a bit of the bizarre to such an opulent accessory.
The glitzy bears stand in sharp contrast to the accessories from Gucci's latest collection, designed by the brand's in-house design team. Instead of Gremlins-shaped purses and rhinestone-encrusted animals, the collective delivered comparatively understated offerings that harkened to the brand's heritage (e.g. the return of Gucci's Tom Ford-era horsebit clutch).
