If I could visit one impossible place in my life, it would be inside the mind of Gucci’s creative director Alessandro Michele. I imagine it would be filled with Chesterfield style dusty pink velvet, every animal you’d see on a safari, golden bees and bugs buzzing about, plaid, glitter, blooms, and everything in between. Though the eccentric kaleidoscopic style of Gucci may not be for everyone, you can’t deny that Michele is pushing the boundaries when it comes to fashion and the creative industry. The latest example of this is the dazzling Gucci Gardens located at the Palazzo della Mercanzia in Florence, Italy.
Split into a series of themed rooms the Gardens honour the beautifully quirky history of the brand, delving back to its originator; Guccio Gucci. Speaking to British Vogue, Michele said he wanted to create a welcoming, fun, and accessible space, embracing all corners of fashion and design, and paying homage to the city’s secrets and soul.
Each room is designed to charmingly compliment what is housed within it. The spaces showcasing clothing and accessories are paired with vintage artworks, dark timber fixtures, digital projections, stunning soft pink wallpapers and herringbone timber floors encapsulating the ‘classic Gucci’ vibe. Whereas the café/restaurant (Gucci Osteria da Massimo Bottura) is a lavish, regal experience, with rich deep-sea upholstery paired with striking green paint finishes and antique carpet that will transport you straight onto the set of a Wes Anderson film.
The ‘Cinema de Camera’ space, (a personal favourite- intended for patrons to be immersed in a variation of experimental film), is dripping from every inch in rouge red velvet, enhanced with up-lighting, tracking the ceiling and projection screen. And the trinket/souvenir-esque store has you feeling as though you’ve stepped into a baroque retro diner with marble checker-board floors, creamy mustard walls and magenta and timber displays and counters.
Though each space is a complete contrast to the next, the lush velvety antique motif brings them all together to create a Gucci lover’s wonderland, capturing the essence of the brand from its classic origins to its new flair. Leaving one thinking that perhaps this is the perfect way of experiencing what goes on in Alessandro’s wonderful mind.
Curiouser and curiouser….
all images sourced from gucci.com