Sabato De Sarno Cleans The Slate With His Gucci Menswear Debut
The designer proposes a wardrobe of new menswear classics for fall/winter 2024.
Photo: Courtesy of Gucci
Gucci FW24
The first clue as to how Sabato De Sarno’s first Gucci menswear show would unfold was in the space: A big industrial box, similar to the set of his debut show last September for womenswear. Then, the show was supposed to take place on the streets but bad weather forced De Sarno to change his plans at the last minute. Now, given the chance for a do-over, he decided on a reprise. No theatrics nor distraction —”focus on the clothes”, it seemed to say. As for what the clothes had to say; well, they continued the story that De Sarno started in September. The first look out was practically a mirror image of that collection’s opening statement: A long black coat with a white tank-top cut low on the chest, accessorised with loafers, a chunky necklace and a red shoulder bag. The difference was that while she wore hot pants and flatform soles, he got trousers and creeper soles.
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De Sarno followed up with more tailoring––his was differentiated from the rest of what we’ve been seeing coming out of Italy this week with creases built into the suits, lending them an air of effortlessness. Models wore leather gloves that matched the colours of their bags. On their necks, they sported leather and metal chokers attached to long skinny silk scarves that fluttered as they walked, softening the effect of the tailoring. Outerwear was a particular highlight, especially the coats and jackets in lustrous leathers that came in deep, rich shades of oxblood, caramel and emerald. Also strong were the one-and-a-half breasted suits with contrast-colour piping, the trousers cut a little high to emphasise the dark loafers worn with white socks; as well as the great coats that extended all the way down to the floor, but with vents cut high in their backs to allow them to swoop and flow.
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The collection was rendered mostly in neutral hues, but here and there pops of colour burst through—the deep Ancora red that De Sarno has turned into a new signature shade for Gucci, electric blue, a pale salmon pink, an off-kilter highlighter green. Silhouettes were generally restrained and minimal but De Sarno’s construction and materials had a rich weightiness to them. Some looks came encrusted in crystals—a throwback to the Tom Ford era—but that was as showy as it got.
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Overall, it was a collection that dealt in understated chic, and capably demonstrated De Sarno’s back-to-basics approach of building a new masculine wardrobe. As a debut collection, it was a success in laying down the foundations on which De Sarno would build up his vision of Gucci, though it would be great to see the designer taking more risks or a more directional approach in his future outings.