EXCLUSIVE: Gucci Vault's Sun-Drenched Summer 2023 Collaborations
Gucci Vault's excellent collaborative collections are a breath of fresh air — a breath of fresh summer air, if you will. Highsnobiety can announce that the next "seasonal chapter" of Gucci Vault, including team-ups with Vans, Judith Leiber, Rowing Blazers, Connor McKnight, and Husbands, is releasing just in time for Summer 2023.
No hyperbole: Gucci Vault has overseen some of the biggest and best luxury collabs of the past few years. From the massive Palace Skateboards and adidas drops to one-offs with Dickies and Moon Boot, Gucci is doing the most.
It's interesting that, as Gucci reformats its mainline collections ahead of new creative director Sabato De Sarno's debut in the fall, Gucci Vault ramps up its impressive selection of playful, approachable product.
We've witnessed several major releases from Gucci Vault in recent months, including March's landmark Continuum collection, which brought in new friends like Vans, PROLETA RE ART, and EGONlab.
Gucci Vault's Summer 2023 collection, available May 22 exclusively on Gucci's website, follows suit with a spate of fresh collaborators and one familiar face.
This time, Gucci has partnered with Connor McKnight, Judith Leiber, Rowing Blazers, Husbands, Maison Michel, Prounis Jewelry, Agua by Agua Bendita, and, once again, Vans for a series of especially summery stuff.
You've got flashy, color-drenched sneakers from Vans, for instance, printed beachwear from Agua, handcrafted headwear from Maison Michel, and brilliantly decorated clutches from Judith Leuber Couture, riffing on Gucci motifs like lions and cherries (the latter with a cherry-sized, crystal-studded case) in such a way as to organically intertwine the collaborators.
"I was honored when the Gucci Vault team reached out and asked if we could work on a project together," Jana Matheson, EVP, Chief Creative Officer, Judith Leiber Couture, told Highsnobiety.
"Each of these offerings is a unique nod to both the Gucci and Judith Leiber Couture aesthetics: Judith Leiber Couture with our unique craftmanship, iconic brass molds, signature hand painting, and handset crystals, [while] Gucci Vault is represented through the lens of beautiful shades of red and green, custom artwork reimagined with a brilliant high fashion edge, added to our classic bag silhouettes."
"It was such a pleasure working with their team, and an incredible experience to create in [the Gucci Vault] world," continued New York designer Connor McKnight, who provided color-blocked knitwear and pleated summer slacks. “For this capsule I wanted to reimagine some of our favorites with the ethos and history of Gucci in mind.”
This co-mingling is key: Gucci Vault isn't just an outlet to spread the good word of fashion's freshest faces but a tangible exploration of Gucci's house codes through the lens of each partner.
For instance, Rowing Blazers used this opportunity to reshape its own codes to better complement Gucci.
"A motif featured throughout the collection is the dodo [an animal] at once noble and tragic.I've been fascinated by them since I was very young," founder Jack Carlson explained. "I wanted to render the dodo in bullion wire goldwork, and it's come out brilliantly."
"For me, the hero piece of the collection is a formal tailcoat [inspired by] a rowing club in the Netherlands where all the members wear stripey blazers but the club president has a formal tailcoat with mismatched lapel facings. I’ve wanted to make a tailcoat like this since I saw it. I’ve worked on this for some time, and the opportunity to work on a capsule for Gucci Vault provided the perfect opportunity to bring it to life."
Through thisGucci Vault's Summer 2023 collaborations aren't just co-signs but co-creations, inviting external talent into Gucci's Vault to toy with shape, silhouette, textile.
It just so happens that the results of Gucci Vault's experiments aren't just historically impactful: they're also pretty damn cool.
