Gucci innovates, designs and dreams

A place of awe, Gucci’s high-tech training school and testing laboratory in Tuscany is a place many only dream of seeing.

What goes on behind those walls one thinks? How do they come up with their ideas, their innovative methods? What’s next?

Questions many seek answers to.

The 37,000 square metre space where Gucci innovates, designs and dreams is a place of wonder to many.

So, you know we were beyond excited when we got the chance to sneak a peak inside Gucci ArtLab.

A hive of creative activity, inside ArtLab you will find not only some of the most striking Gucci designs on display but a whole team of artisans and craftsmen busy with all sorts of things, from heating bamboo over a Bunsen burner before carefully bending it into the perfectly curved handle to scientists and state-of-the-art robotics testing new cult bags for everything from elastic-band fatigue to zip reliability.

You’ll even see a treadmill taking some heels for a walk, because here is where Gucci prototypes and tests all their shoe and leather good designs.

“When I created ArtLab, my main thought was to give people the opportunity to be creative and express themselves,” says CEO Massimo Rigucci.

“We’re not just creating a technical space, but [one filled with] emotions.”

“We have 3D programmes that allow us to simulate an accessory rather than building a physical prototype and throwing the material away [afterwards],” adds Antonella Centra, EVP of general counsel, corporate affairs and sustainability. “But you can see it’s not replacing the human touch, it’s complementary.”

“We’re trying to recreate the small artisanal workshops that I remember [growing up],” Rigucci says. “I came from a factory where my mother taught us about shoes so that [the craft] would continue. This is something we want to do inside our organisation, too. ‘We’re creating a dream for the world, not just products.”

Let’s hope the creativity and craft last for many more decades.