Step Inside Gucci’s New London Store

Gucci New Bond Street, the Italian house’s newly opened London store, draws on the historic building’s previous life as an art gallery.

It’s out with the old and in with the new at Gucci! The elegant ambience of the new Bond Street space resonates with the spirit of a traditional Parisian salon. Here the spotlight is on the exceptional craftsmanship of its clothing and accessories.

Step inside

Currently, the new premises host the vibrant A/W 2023 collection. This was unveiled by the in-house team during Milan Fashion Week A/W 2023. The ground floor showcases the colourful runway collection with mannequins while accessories gleam in elegant glass and metal vitrines, promising precious leathers, crystal-studded and diamond-adorned accessories, and 18ct gold hardware.

Ascending to the upper mezzanine floor, the house pays homage to its historical ties to travel. In a room reminiscent of a vintage railway carriage, Gucci proudly presents its Valigeria travel collection. This features suitcases, travel bags, and accessory and toiletry cases. These are elegantly displayed on wooden shelves. Each is beautifully engraved with the iconic lion’s head motif, a symbol that has graced Gucci’s previous collections.

Another space is titled ‘The Tudor Room’, named for its wood-panelled walls – each one carefully restored by the house – and featuring pieces from the Gucci archive in Florence, spanning the 1930s to the 1980s.

The ‘Gucci Salon’, meanwhile, is the first such space in Europe. It is an invite-only service that recalls traditional couture salons. Here clients can shop in a private room the house says will be specially curated for each visitor. It draws inspiration from ‘Gucci Galleria’, 1977-founded space above Gucci’s store in Beverly Hills, Los Angeles (‘perhaps the most luxurious place to shop in the entire world’, as it was slated at the time) which was accessed via a crystal-and-bronze elevator and opened with a special leather key.

The store also recalls its roots as a gallery – first opened in 1913, it was formerly home to art dealer Colnaghi – with a selection of artworks dotted throughout the store.

For its opening, art advisor and curator Truls Blaasmo has selected a number of pieces to decorate the space, with a particular thematic focus on Italian artists, particularly those whose works include geometric motifs, primary colours, and textural elements. These include works by Liliana Moro, Franco Mazzucchelli, Alighiero Boetti, Matilde Cassani, Jonny Niesche, Massimo Uberti, Joshua Woolford, Simon Callery and Tim Etchells (Blaasmo expresses a desire to ‘facilitate a dialogue between young talent and established artists’).