Folks with a taste for delightfully eccentric furniture will probably have made a beeline for Gucci when the maison first launched its coveted Gucci Decor line in Singapore three years ago. And with most people still working from home, interest in curating one’s working and living space is at an all-time high, if the wave of fashion houses branching out into homeware is any indicator.
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The good news is, the Gucci homeware universe is now joined by a new range called Gucci Lifestyle, which launches on September 10. Compared to the original Gucci Decor which focuses on statement furniture pieces, this new collection plays more on small everyday items such as paper fans, colour pencils, pens, notebooks, playing cards, dice sets and the like.
Trust Gucci to give everyday objects such a joyous makeover.
In other words, they’re objects you can tote about – both at home or while you’re out and about, which certainly adds points with their utility. Each item comes with familiar Gucci motifs such as the artful Herbarium print or iconic Disney cartoon characters from the house’s collaboration with the entertainment powerhouse.
If you’re lucky enough to be in Milan this month, Gucci has opened a very special temporary store running until September 17 to coincide with Milan Design Week (this year’s edition takes place at a later scheduled as opposed to its more traditional slot in April).
Everyone gets a neck pillow.
Titled Gucci Cartoleria, the pop-up is meant to be a Gucci-fied take on the traditional Italian stationery store – which means you can expect a fantastical, Alice in Wonderland-esque approach to things. Think flying notebooks, chess sets that play themselves, haunted items, endless bookcases and micro-apartments for mice with Gucci furnishings.
Inside the bewitching Gucci Cartoleria ephemeral store in Milan.
“When I was a child, going to the stationery store and finding pencils, pens, notebooks, games, meant bringing a dream into my daily routine. They were fine, well-made objects that spoke of craftsmanship and that, though part of my everyday life, were able to give off a magical, mysterious and wonderful aura,” says Gucci creative director Alessandro Michele.
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He adds: “For this reason, presenting the Gucci Lifestyle collection in Milan through the Gucci Cartoleria is a sort of consecration, a tribute that was right for me to pay. So, I imagined a small cabinet of curiosities, a Wunderkammer, like the cave of Ali Baba, that could accommodate these everyday objects and return them to a fairy-tale dimension. I could have included them in the collections long ago, but they were not strictly related to clothing and accessories. That’s why I wanted to build a whimsical space where they could be laid out, to restore to everyday life that sense of wonder that makes them so dear to me.”
Before the Gucci Lifestyle range launches at Gucci’s Paragon store and online, here’s a round-up of the pieces that caught our eye.
