Sabato De Sarno Presents Debut Menswear Collection for Gucci

In Milan's cavernous, minimalistic industrial Fonderia Carlo Macchi, Sabato de Sarno presented his debut menswear collection for the brand for Autumn/Winter 2024. The vast, open concrete-laden venue, fitted only with an illuminated runway path made De Sarno's vision for Gucci clear—the emphasis was solely on the clothing and the path forward. Models walked the minimally-lit runway with quiet confidence and sultry attitude befitting De Sarno's Ancora collection. 

Sharp tailoring, clean-cut silhouettes, and pared-back shapes were in abundance, showing a continuation of De Sarno's tendency towards elegant minimalism. Although simplicity was key in many of these looks, De Sarno toyed with eye-catching colours like vibrant lime green, the archival Gucci Rosso hue—a deep, red oxblood colour at the forefront of the Ancora collection, baby pink, and a robust range of neutrals in the line, creating a new, eclectic color palette for Gucci. Models strode down the runway clutching the brand's iconic Jackie handbags with leather gloves to match, all crafted in De Sarno's comprehensive new colour palette. 

De Sarno's vision for Gucci is one that is steeped in richness, passion, and sensuality, all whilst staying grounded in scaled-back glamour, a clear-cut picture of elegance, and an abundance of artistic freedom—in short, a collection driven in a sense by opposites and contradictions, or as De Sarno puts it in his show notes, "It's a story of everything, again, but this time expressed through joy." 

De Sarno's Autumn/Winter 2024 menswear collection was created with the intention to echo the Spring/Summer 2024 womenswear collection, capturing the same intent and aesthetic with six looks that act as bridges between the two collections, creating a full, cohesive image of De Sarno's new vision for Gucci. In addition to the mirrored looks, the show's set design, casting, and soundtrack—executed by Mark Ronson—are also purposefully reminiscent of the womenswear show, rounding out the conceptual links between the collections.

The continuity between collections was visible in the emphasis on the careful blend of extravagance, elegance, and desire, as presented through suit jackets with deep v-necks, chunky-soled loafers, long sweeping trench coats, and balanced harmony of sharply cut leatherwear and softly contoured wool coats, with the integral blend of sensuality and sophistication executed through the juxtaposition of tailored suiting on bare skin, crystal-embedded trousers, and loose-fitting, flowing neckties. 

Above all, the spotlight fell on the smart, sophisticated, and poised aesthetic carefully crafted by De Sarno. From sharply cut pleated trousers to glitzy, rhinestone-adorned sleeveless tops, the designer's vision of a simplistic, unabashed celebration of style, passionate euphoria, and art was present from start to finish, emphasizing De Sarno's commitment to a refined, contemporary twist on the House's iconic designs.