Luxury Living Tips: Gucci brings its flora and fauna to Galeries Lafayette

Monday, 8 August 2016

Gucci brings its flora and fauna to Galeries Lafayette

A Gucci window display at Galeries Lafayette

Italian fashion house Gucci is sharing its iconography via a pop-up and in-store exclusives at Parisian department store Galeries Lafayette.

In addition to limited-edition goods designed specifically for the Gucci pop-up at Galeries Lafayette, the Italian house has also outfitted the retailer’s Boulevard Haussman windows with its whimsical motifs and accessories. Gucci has been in overdrive recently as it works to reposition its brand and the new aesthetic devised by creative director Alessandro Michele.

Flamingos and snakes and bees, oh my!
On Aug. 1, Galeries Lafayette unveiled its Gucci-designed windows. For the next three weeks, the windows will showcase Gucci’s accessories and the new motifs introduced by Mr. Michele.

The window panes show Gucci’s iconography such as flamingos, butterflies, bees, ants and ladybugs as if they were in their natural habitats. Throughout the habitat displays, Gucci has included its recent accessories collection for fall/winter 2016.

In one window, a gaggle of pink flamingos, some of which wear Gucci hats, stand in a row in what appears to be a paneled Parisian apartment. On the floor are Gucci backpacks, clutches and shoe styles for men and women.

Gucci window display at Galeries Lafayette, fall/winter 2016

At the Gucci pop-up, consumers can shop the fall/winter 2016 collection. In one temporary shop, decorated with neon lights and herons, Gucci will offer Galeries Lafayette consumers an exclusive versions of its Dionysus handbag, Marmot backpack and Princetown moccasins.

The three products include a special label that will only be available at Galeries Lafayette. With many consumers on the lookout for limited-edition exclusives, especially while traveling, this element of exclusivity may draw Gucci enthusiasts to the Galeries Lafayette pop-up in droves.

At a second pop-up at the retailer’s Boulevard Haussman location, Gucci will present its watches and jewelry collection. The Wonderland Market will be located on Galeries Lafayette’s first floor and will temporarily sell recent additions to Gucci’s watch and jewelry offerings.

Gucci’s Dionysus purse and Marmot backpack, with exclusive labels for Galeries Lafayette

Under the direction of Mr. Michele, Gucci has taken particular time to explore its flora and fauna motifs to firmly establish the aesthetic.

This has included Mr. Michele trying his hand at home furnishing design in a collaboration with shelter publication Cabana magazine.

Since taking the reins as creative director at the Italian firm, Mr. Michele has left an impression on the fashion industry by updating Gucci’s look in a fantastical way that blends its codes with modern accents. Extending the Gucci aesthetic to a collection of bespoke chairs, the designer’s collaboration with Cabana was exclusively available on online marketplace 1stDibs.

The six limited-edition chairs were only sold on 1stDibs’ marketplace and were inspired by the Chiavari seating Mr. Michele used for Gucci’s Milan runway presentation in September 2015.

Each of the chair’s upholstered seats featured embroidered animals seen within Mr. Michele’s Gucci collections. These included a rabbit, a bird, a tiger, two different snakes and the newest Gucci iconography, the honey bee motif (see story).

Gucci chair designed by Alessandro Michele