Keep It Gucci: A Silk-Laden Ode to Craft, Culture, and Contemporary Artistry
Source: Gucci
Reported By: Caroline Dalal
In the luxury lexicon, few words carry the tactile poetry of silk. At Gucci, this cherished material is not simply fabric—it is storytelling, iconography, and emotion woven into motion. With its latest artistic endeavor, Keep It Gucci: The Art of Silk, the Italian House casts a spotlight on its silk heritage through a multi-faceted celebration that feels as intimate as it is cinematic.
At its core, the project is a reverent look at Gucci’s foulard legacy, long recognized as one of fashion’s most enduring mediums. But this is no archival exercise. Under the creative direction of a house known for bending time and blurring boundaries, The Art of Silk merges old-world craftsmanship with contemporary cultural resonance—across image, print, and object.
A Cinematic Campaign: Julia Garner in Silk and Shadow
To mark the occasion, Gucci has released a visual campaign directed by Steven Meisel, starring actress Julia Garner, who inhabits a role that feels somewhere between muse and medium. Set against the pulse of a city after dark, Garner is framed in chiaroscuro—her movements captured in silk as if in dialogue with the camera’s lens.
Meisel’s narrative, deliberately elusive, treats silk as its own character: draped, tied, caught mid-motion, the fabric becomes language—one that speaks in fluidity, allure, and timelessness. The result is a moving tableau where light and shadow swirl in harmony, and where a silk scarf is no longer an accessory, but an act of self-expression.
Reimagining Tradition: The 90 x 90 Project
As an artistic evolution of its silk archive, Gucci introduces the 90 x 90 Project, a striking reinterpretation of the House’s iconic scarf themes. Named for the classic 90cm x 90cm silk twill format, this initiative brings together nine contemporary artists, each tasked with reimagining five recurring motifs: Flora, fauna, nautical, equestrian, and the GG monogram.
The result is a tapestry of artistic voices—some playful, some poignant, all unmistakably individual. Contributors include Robert Barry, Everett Glenn, Sara Leghissa, Currynew, Jonny Niesche, Gio Pastori, Walter Petrone, Yu Cai, and Inji Seo, whose interpretations blur the lines between fine art, fashion, and graphic storytelling.
In one, a central lily becomes the protagonist of a narrative in bloom; in another, Gucci’s fauna motif is transformed into a sci-fi dreamscape. These scarves are not merely reprints—they are miniature works of art, animated with meaning and pointing to the House’s vision of future-forward luxury.
Flora as a Timeless Emblem
No Gucci silk project would be complete without homage to Flora, the emblematic print first commissioned in 1966 by Vittorio Accornero de Testa. A hand-painted bouquet composed of 43 different species of flowers, insects, and plants, Flora remains not only a visual signature of the House but a symbol of its capacity to bridge natural beauty with artistic precision.
Appearing in campaign imagery and gracing the cover of the new book, Flora carries a legacy that transcends trends. Whether worn as a headscarf, knotted at the neck, or carried as an heirloom, it continues to define Gucci’s approach to timeless design with renewed purpose.
A Collector’s Volume: Gucci: The Art of Silk
To accompany the campaign and capsule collection, Gucci has partnered with Assouline to publish Gucci: The Art of Silk—a 300-page, large-format book that charts the narrative and cultural impact of Gucci scarves through the decades.
Curated by Jo-Ann Furniss, the volume draws on rare archival access and includes contributions by respected scholars Jennifer Sliwka and Christopher Wallace. Readers are guided through the evolution of the silk scarf as both a fashion artifact and a canvas for innovation—tracing its journey through the hands of creative directors from Tom Ford to Sabato De Sarno.
Presented in an exquisitely printed silk slipcase and stamped with the House’s iconic foil logo, the book itself is an object of desire. It will be available via Gucci.com, Assouline bookstores, and select Gucci boutiques worldwide.
A Living Archive Recast in Silk
Keep It Gucci: The Art of Silk is more than a campaign—it is a holistic homage to Gucci’s multidisciplinary design philosophy. It asks viewers to reconsider the role of legacy in an era obsessed with immediacy. And in doing so, it elevates the silk scarf beyond fashion into a space where history, art, and personal expression intersect.
In the folds of silk, there is movement, memory, and modernity. And in Gucci’s hands, that movement continues—stitched not only into fabric but into culture.