There’s a sense of self in the new Gucci, and Spring Summer 2025 is a journey to find freedom.
Sometimes, you can’t help but notice an ineffable force that makes fashion feel alive and contained; when it doesn’t pride itself on being too serious — such as when designers release bags that function as bags or shirts that do what shirts are meant to do. That’s where Sabato de Sarno’s Gucci comes in — his thesis towards fashion is a persuasion for us to communicate with the palpable rather than fantasy. In other words, he’s grounded. This was made clear from the start when Fall Winter 2024 — his debut menswear for the house — came abundantly packed with clues that the creative director isn’t fond of making things that wouldn’t work in real life. It was then that we witnessed a new Gucci that refused to indulge in overstimulated collections but instead focused on forming a good base of highly detailed, simple offerings. It’s about adopting a maximalist lifestyle (as we reported in our June/July 2024 issue) that can be loud without the need to scream.
One season later, with the new Spring Summer 2025 on the horizon, we were proven right. In part two of not-making-fashion-too-serious, de Sarno invited us to the most carefree theme of all — a place of freedom, where the art of doing absolutely nothing becomes art itself. This was emphasised in its location, a museum — specifically the Triennale Milano — and later on via the looks. Clothes that referenced being on the beach, swimwear, mineral sunscreen, and the scorching heat all at once. But what connections do museums and beaches have with freedom? They are places one can be if only they have nothing on their schedule.
At points in the show, we’d see this growing urge for freedom in, funnily, the lack of clothes. Skinny coats, seen first in the previous collection, return as a full outfit on its own. Short shorts, the kind you’d only find the courage to wear if you’re out of the country, made several appearances. Brightly printed oversized shirts in surfing motifs — a staple of beachwear and a first for de Sarno — was an inclusion that further added to the nonchalance. Topping it off was the use of fringes, the same as we saw in the women’s Fall Winter 2024 and Cruise 2025 show, which we suspect will form the bedrock of many collections to come. Also, an abundance of mesh knits means there’s nothing more paired back than it gets for Gucci here.
The Spring Summer 2025 Men’s Fashion Week coverage continues on our Instagram.
Once you are done with our review on the Gucci SS25 collection, click here to catch up with our June/July 2024 issue.
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