Gucci Garden pays tribute to Björk

Gucci has unveiled its latest collaboration and creative space within its Gucci Garden concept in Florence as a tribute to Björk alongside a capsule collection developed with London-based artist Isabella Cotier.

The Gucci Garden was conceived by Gucci creative director Alessandro Michele and curator and critic Maria Luisa Frisa, head of the BA degree course in Fashion Design and Multimedia Arts at Iuav University in Venice, to take the concept of the conventional museum and reimagines it as a living, collaborative and creative space in which to express the evolving aesthetic and philosophy of the House.

The concept houses the permanent collection and this week it added two new rooms, to showcase its inaugural exhibition, an installation dedicated to the collaboration between Björk and Alessandro Michele for the music video The Gate (2017), with emphasis on the dress that become the focus in the film.

Highlights include the gowns and masks worn in The Gate music video, including the focal “hero” dress of the video, which took 550 hours to make and 320 hours to embroider. The gown combines five metres of finely pleated iridescent PVC and 20 metres of pleated lurex organza, crêpe de chine and silk jersey.

A second gown is on show, as is an array of accessories, and two face masks created by artist and embroiderer James Merry, all of which also appear in the video. In addition, there is also a selection of precious books that are connected to the imaginary world triggered by the film and the creation of the gown.

Gucci launches collaboration with London-based artist Isabella Cotier

The exhibition is located on the first floor of the venue, in the ancient Palazzo della Mercanzia in Florence, and Gucci confirmed in a statement that the new space would host presentations and installations by different artists on rotation.

Other additions to the Gucci Garden’s first floor includes a new screening room, the Cinema da Camera, where visitors can watch new episodes of the film series ‘Zeus Machine,’ realised by the Zapruder group and reinterpreting the labours of Hercules.

While on the ground floor of the Gucci Garden is a “bazaar-like retail space”, organised across two large rooms, which houses products exclusively designed for this location and not on sale in any other Gucci stores. New pieces that have been introduced include shoes and bags in unique patterns, prints and colours, such as the Princetown loafer and the Sylvie handbag.

This also includes Gucci’s collaboration with Cotier, which includes her distinctive, playful illustrations applied to a range of sweatshirts, hoodies, T-shirts and tote bags.

The collaboration with Cotier is the latest in a Gucci Garden programme of artist design partnerships, which began with pieces of clothing and porcelain mugs and candle holders displaying Jayde Fish's whimsical illustrations.

Images: courtesy of Gucci