Gucci Spring 2025 Ready-to-Wear Collection

When Fiordaliso’s 1986 hit “Non Voglio Mica La Luna” began to play as the models made their final rounds at Gucci today, the crowd swayed in their seats and sang along. Sabato De Sarno’s first year at the brand had not always been easy, but he wanted to put a sunny, upbeat spin on things with his new show.

His first step was to return to La Triennale, Milan’s art and design museum and the site of his June men’s show, staging a kind of sunset in the round, with successive rooms in the oblong space graduating from yellow to orange to Ancora red. At a preview earlier this week, De Sarno spoke fondly of his August vacation, which he spent with his husband and parents in Formentera. The set was designed to capture that endless summer feeling.

His muse was Jackie O, a Gucci client from way back and a global style icon to this day, someone who has inspired countless designers over the decades. “When I was doing my research in the archives, I found someone who described her style as ‘casual grandeur.’ Those words stuck with me during my creative period,” he explained. The Kennedy clan is back in the news: Ryan Murphy just announced he’s producing a new TV show about John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy, so the Jackie connection was a bit of a synchronicity.

The reference wasn’t obvious from the opening look – a wool bomber jacket paired with hip-length slouchy trousers (previously seen in his spring men’s collection) and sneakers – but as the show progressed, archive-print headscarves and oversized sunglasses suggested De Sarno was harking back to Jackie’s Capri era. A woven raffia coat in fluorescent green with a barely-there floral print and printed beachwear with matching wide-brimmed sun hats – these patterns were inspired by a photograph of Queen Elizabeth II in Gucci – were designed to channel the jet-set style of the ‘60s.

For the celebrities — Kirsten Dunst, Dakota Johnson, Daisy Edgar-Jones and the like — there was a red-carpet-friendly mirrored sequin sleeveless dress. Elsewhere, De Sarno played on the iconic white jersey dresses of Tom Ford’s fall 1996 collection, only his were in deep hues and draped with gold bamboo-shaped bracelets and chokers. The Bamboo bag was the company’s big push this season. There were a number of vintage versions at the show that had been reworked by Japanese artists, and a press release made special mention of an exhibition currently running in Japan chronicling the bag’s 60-year history in that country. A shoulder-strap bucket bag that also made frequent appearances featured horsebit detailing, which also turned up on new flat boots, an evolution of the brand’s signature loafers.

The show culminated in a series of looks that echoed today’s jet-set spirit: oversized coats whose hems grazed the floor, worn with tank tops and boyish jeans. These might represent De Sarno’s greatest advance: an elusive casual attitude he hasn’t quite mastered yet. The mood at Gucci has been somber, but judging by the dancing and singing along to that old Fiordaliso number, it seemed De Sarno had found some new fans. That’s a step forward, because perception is such a crucial element of success.