Sabato De Sarno chooses London as the setting for the Gucci Cruise 2025 collection. The concrete of the former power plant that now houses the Tate Modern, one of the most globally relevant modern art museums, is the backdrop for transparencies and bows, floral prints and long boho-inspired dresses that take the viewer into the more sophisticated side of the 1970s.
But it is a journey into the past that lasts a moment, which without too much nostalgia brings us right back into the contemporary. Pussy-bow shirts, thick aviator glasses and large hobo bags appear perfectly cast in the time we live in, through a finely crafted play of contrasts, which reaches its peak in a selection of evening dresses paired with utility-inspired jackets. “I like to take something we think we know and change its rules, pushing it to its limits, but never distorting it. Move it toward its opposite and discover harmony,” De Sarno explains in the notes accompanying the show’s inspiration.
A moment from the finale of the Gucci Cruise 2025 show at the Tate Modern in London. TRISTAN FEWINGS/GETTY IMAGES
The choice of London is no accident. “I owe a lot to this city, which welcomed me and knew how to listen to me,” De Sarno explains further, and quotes Guccio Gucci, the founding father of the Italian brand who more than a century ago landed precisely in London, where working as a hotel porter in the renowned Savoy Hotel he developed his sense for luxury, bringing it with him to Italy in the mid-1920s. Two figures, two eras, the same place capable of conveying endless possibilities.
It was the beginning of a long story, and it is to this beginning that Gucci seems to want to return with this collection, different from its predecessors. More romantic and emotional, it redesigns typically British codes and mixes them with quotes from a 1970s Italy and beyond. We tell you about the Gucci Cruise 2025 fashion show through 5 details that won us over.
1. With feet on the ground: ballet flats and loafers
A still-life shot of the new Gucci Cruise 2025 shoes. COURTESY OF GUCCI
Let’s reverse the order starting with the feet. A relevant element of the collection is the absence of heels: the Cruise 2025 shoes are ballet flats with horsebit detail and loafers that reinterpret the design of the famous London creepers, worn with ankle socks decorated with Gucci’s unmistakable red and green stripe. A choice, those of flat shoes, made with the intention of conveying an idea of dynamism, of urban movement and anchored in everyday life.
Gucci Cruise 2025 JOHN PHILLIPS/GETTY IMAGES
A still-life shot of the new Gucci Cruise 2025 shoes. COURTESY OF GUCCI
2. The logo inspired by Guccio Gucci’s early days.
Close up on one of the new bags from the Gucci Cruise 2025 collection. HENRY NICHOLLS/GETTY IMAGES
The collection’s star accessory is the Gucci Blondie archival logo bag, created in the 1970s as a tribute to the house’s founder. Offered in leather or leather and canvas variant, in maxi or mini size, we saw it alternating with the iconic Jackie, itself in extra-large size.
3. From jeans to precious embroidery
Photo A look from the Gucci Cruise 2025 collection. JOHN PHILLIPS/GETTY IMAGES
The first looks are all about denim, relaxed and loose, paired with suede shirts and jackets. As the looks go by, the runway lights up and gives a reinterpretation of the typical English tartan, recreated in a jeweled key with lots of fine beaded bangs that move delicately with each step.
Photo A look from the Gucci Cruise 2025 collection. HENRY NICHOLLS/GETTY IMAGES
4. Transparencies, but in color
Photo A look from the Gucci Cruise 2025 collection. HENRY NICHOLLS/GETTY IMAGES
Color plays a key role in this ongoing search for contrasts, but it is elegantly rendered through the choice of transparent and lightweight materials such as chiffon. Thus the acid tones of green and the fluorescent accents of yellow and shocking pink acquire more delicacy and sensuality.
A look from the Gucci Cruise 2025 collection. WWD/GETTY IMAGES
5. The print and embroidery with daisies.
A detail from the Gucci Cruise 2025 collection. JOHN PHILLIPS/GETTY IMAGES
Embroidered on baggy jeans, printed on jackets, shirts and finally on the dress that closes the collection: daisies are another prominent decorative element in this Cruise 2025 and know, like the other elements seen on the runway, how to embody multiple characters. They are strong and decisive on jackets with a black background or delicate when they tape the pleats of an ethereal dress.
A detail from the Gucci Cruise 2025 collection. JOHN PHILLIPS/GETTY IMAGES
The final look on the Gucci Cruise 2025 runway. HENRY NICHOLLS/GETTY IMAGES