The Bite Magazine - Autumn/Winter 2023 - Issue 34

biteexhibition I f you immerse yourself into another dimension where a striking kaleidoscope of colours and interactive imagery engulfs you, then the Gucci Cosmos would be it. The cut- ting-edge immersive exhibition features Gucci’s most iconic designs from its 102-year history. After it premiered in Shang- hai earlier this year, the itinerant global exhibition came to London at 180 Studios, 180 The Strand. It explores Gucci’s connection to London, its history and Florentine roots. Guccio Gucci worked as a luggage porter and lift boy at the exclusive The Savoy Hotel. As he carried guests’ luggage through the famous revolving entrance doors and operated the lift up to the rooms and suites, the teenage Guccio en- countered the lifestyles of the international elite. Inspired by these experiences and an aspiration to enhance the art of lug- gage, he returned to Florence. He established his eponymous leather goods house in 1921, opening the first Gucci store on Via della Vigna Nuova. The exhibition explores Guccio Gucci’s abiding codes and spirit in the fashion house’s iconic designs and its era-defin- ing classic inspired and reinterpreted by its design visionaries. Its concept was conceived and designed by renowned British contemporary artist Es Devlin and curated by eminent Italian fashion theorist and critic Maria Luisa Frisa. This playful voy- age through Gucci’s past, present and future allows the visitor to experience a series of worlds drawing treasures from the Gucci Archive. Each world traces a different aspect of Gucci, including its unwavering principles, renewed inspiration, and creativity. It incorporates the nascent ambitions of its founder, the pi- oneering spirit of his sons Aldo and Rodolfo, and the wildly imaginative powers of creative directors Tom Ford, Frida Gi- annini, Alessandro Michele, and now Sabato De Sarno. The London version dives deeper into the fashion house's long- standing ties to London and adapts the show's design with site-specific experiences. On 180 The Strand’s exterior, you’ll see a two mirror-image bas-relief Duomo mounted on a bright red and green back- ground attached to the ground floor and first floor. The Du- omo, a reproduction of Filippo Brunelleschi’s revolutionary 15th-century dome for the Santa Maria de Fiore cathedral, symbolises Guccio Gucci’s birthplace and the city he founded his artisanal luggage atelier 102 years ago, bringing a symbol of the Tuscan’s capital architectural glories to the streets of London. Inside, you’ll enter the Gucci x The Savoy Lobby meticulously replicated from its iconic black and white marble floor to its stylish light fittings and furniture. This entrance space evokes the modernity of the lobby when it first opened, featuring a café decorated with vintage wallpaper serving red-coloured drinks and snacks, providing areas with comfortable seating and rare access to the garden at 180 The Strand. You’ll then enter a large-scale reproduction of The Savoy’s famous red lift, the first electric elevator in London. It was unveiled in 1889 and affectionately known as the Ascending Room by its astonished visitors, who weren’t used to standing so close together in an enclosed, windowless box. In the Gucci Cosmos re-creation, you’re taken on an ascending son-et-lu- mière (sound and light) journey, hearing stories on how these seven-minute journeys up and down the hotel inspired the Gucci founder. Once you leave the 19th-century atmosphere of the Ascend- ing Room, you return to the present day in a minimalist white space with a staircase leading down to the first Gucci Cosmos world. Portals continue Guccio’s story and the ongoing reso- nances of his time at The Savoy. Revolving doors link the three all-white, interlocking circular installation spaces in a nod to the hotel's original entrance with circular conveyor belts car- rying Gucci's most exquisite luggage designs. Feast your eyes on one of the earliest signature suitcases de- signed by Guccio in the late 1920s, cases and other travel ac-