Gucci Cosmos Exhibition Arrives in London

Tamison O’Connor, Business of Fashion

Gucci is staging its first major exhibition in London, curated by Italian fashion theorist and critic Maria Luisa Frisa and designed by British artist Es Devlin.

Located at 180 Studios on the Strand, the display, which first debuted in Shanghai in April, blends experiential elements with displays of items from the house’s archive to chart the history of the Italian brand and demonstrate how its codes have been re-interpreted by creative directors over the years.

Designs by Tom Ford, Frida Giannini, Alessandro Michele, and new creative director Sabato De Sarno — whose debut Gucci collection was unveiled last month — sit alongside Gucci bags and luggage dating back to the mid-20th century.

Displays from the Gucci archive chart the history of the Italian brand. (AGNESE BEDINI)

“Gucci’s archives are fantastic, a place for conservation but also for imagination,” Frisa said during a press conference on Tuesday. “The exhibition is not chronological, it keeps together all these different times to remind us Gucci’s history is very much alive.”

For the London iteration, new additions to the exhibit include a “red ascending room,” a recreation of the first electric elevator at Savoy Hotel where Gucci founder Guccio Gucci worked as a teenager, and a “Gucci Ancora” room, which highlights De Sarno’s vision for Gucci with videos and sound.

The “red ascending room” is a recreation of the first electric elevator at the Savoy Hotel, where Gucci founder Guccio Gucci worked as a teenager. (Gucci)

“I think in this exhibition we’ve managed to combine education and entertainment,” Frisa said. “An exhibition like this has to speak to a broad audience.” The ambition is to take the exhibition to other cities in the near future, added Devlin.

The exhibition will run from Oct. 11 until Dec. 31.