MILAN — The opening of Gucci’s first boutique in Japan coincided with the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. Quick-forward 60 years and because the 2024 version of the worldwide multisports occasion can be going down in Paris, Gucci on Aug. 2 will unveil an exhibition to mark the model’s six a long time in Japan, amongst different initiatives.
A Gucci Bamboo 1947 design in Sabato De Sarno‘s Rosso Ancora.
Known as “Bamboo 1947: Then and Now Celebrating 60 Years of Gucci in Japan,” the exhibition can be devoted to the model’s Bamboo 1947 bag, and show 60 classic fashions of the accent which were revisited by conventional Japanese artisans and artists.
The baggage, primarily from the Nineteen Eighties and Nineteen Nineties, have been revitalized by goldsmith Morihito Katsura, a Residing Nationwide Treasure licensed as Preservers of Vital Intangible Cultural Properties by Japan’s Minister of Schooling, Tradition, Sports activities, Science and Know-how; goldsmith Naoko Ai; ceramist Nakazato Hirotsune; lacquerer Ai Tokeshi; photographer Daido Moriyama; painter Nami Yokoyama, and painter Yui Yaegashi, every of whom have added their distinctive contact.
The exhibition will happen on the Gucci Ginza Gallery on the model’s flagship within the metropolis till Sept. 23. After the exhibition, every bag can be accessible for buy as an artwork piece.
On the finish of 2023, there have been 72 straight operated Gucci shops in Japan. The primary retailer promoting Gucci merchandise in Japan, operated by Solar Motoyama, opened in Ginza in 1964 and the model’s first boutique was unveiled in Tokyo in 1972. It was Gucci’s first retailer to open in Asia.
Gucci Osteria, conceived and curated by star chef Massimo Bottura, on the fourth degree of the Gucci Namiki constructing in Ginza, acquired a Michelin star in 2022, one yr after its opening.
The Bamboo bag was launched in 1947 and is distinguished by the curved bamboo deal with.
A picture from 1963 from ArchivioFotoLocchi.
In Italy’s post-World Battle II period, by which conventional uncooked supplies have been troublesome to supply, the style home’s founder Guccio Gucci determined to make use of the light-weight and sturdy bamboo as a substitute for the purse’s deal with, supported by Florentine artisans in growing the design.
The design ushered in an enlargement of the model’s artisanal experience as a result of extremely technical course of behind crafting the curved stalk. The bamboo piece is softened and labored over an open flame by hand to take a semicircular kind and, as soon as formed, is coated in a number of layers of lacquer and baked to attain a shiny golden-brown end. In gentle of the handmade course of, each bamboo deal with result’s completely different from the others.
The Gucci Bamboo 1947 bag and its archival predecessors have been among the many key items that have been showcased on the current “Gucci Cosmos” exhibition retracing the corporate’s 103-year historical past.
Following its debut, the Gucci Bamboo 1947 bag gained recognition amongst Hollywood stars and the worldwide jet set.
The type obtained an added dose of recent consideration in February when Miley Cyrus introduced her Gucci bamboo bag onstage, pulling her acceptance speech out of it in the course of the 66th Grammy Awards.
In the present day, Gucci’s bamboo-handle bag is being marketed as a premium providing underneath artistic director Sabato De Sarno. Within the U.S., the bag is offered by appointment solely with costs starting from $3,700 for a mini model, as seen on Cyrus, to $52,000 for a croc type.
