Ancora: Gucci by Sabato de Sarno
“I want people to fall in love with Gucci again.”
A familiar man, young, cheerful, and full of hope. Sabato de Sarno’s eyes welled up upon hearing “Ancora,” a piece by the famous Italian singer Mina, reinterpreted by Mark Ronson. Thus, the soundtrack for Gucci’s new era was born: Gucci Ancora.
Bathed in the deepest wine colour, this new chapter of the brand is “not a break, but an evolution,” says François-Henri Pinault, CEO of the Kering group. The arrival of Sabato de Sarno at Gucci signified much more than an aesthetic change; it meant a broadening of horizons.
Between 2015 and 2022, Alessandro Michele's Gucci was pure maximalism. However, when the strategy shifted to appeal to a broader audience, Michele decided his vision no longer aligned with the project. Anticipating his recent debut for Valentino, de Sarno’s story is quite different.
Who is Sabato de Sarno?
It seems the wine-red colour was a premonition of his first encounter with luxury fashion. An innate creative, a school trip to Rome (from North Naples) put him in front of an intense red jacket by Tom Ford’s Gucci.
During his fashion studies, he caught the attention of the Prada team, where he ended up working in the outerwear pattern-making section. At one of his career peaks, as the director of ready-to-wear for Valentino, Kering called him for Gucci’s new beginning.
De Sarno is a product of his development in the 90s, enamoured with fashion and Gianni Versace, who was “everything I wanted to be.” The Gucci management team highlights his energy and tenacity. They speak of his gradual approach to the project: instead of wanting to play all his best cards at once, Sabato prefers to build his journey with care and attention, collection by collection.
What is Gucci Ancora?
The dictionary offers two entries for the Italian term ancora: “again” and “still.” Gucci Ancora speaks to the enthusiasm for continuing a chapter that begins anew but carries decades of rich history.
Seemingly simple pieces, sparkles and details in jeans and coats, jackets with nothing underneath, the revival of the Gucci Jackie bag and the Gucci Bamboo, monogrammed dresses, and the famous Gucci Horsebit loafers (now in platform). Sabato de Sarno’s Gucci is a return to Tom Ford but with a focus on the everyday.
The accessories and ready-to-wear brand was created to accompany people in their daily lives. The idea of Gucci Ancora is to embed even further into people’s lives. To create pieces that accompany and become cherished, like collectible items, pieces to admire in our wardrobes and treasure every moment we use them.
The New Codes in the Making
Ancora is the beginning of a diverse Gucci, both in offerings and audience. A bourgeois look, a lady look, a garçon look... The new creative direction of the house is founded around life, the everyday, and the greatness of small things. Without falling into nostalgia, Sabato de Sarno has a firm passion for living and connecting with people.
In his first weeks, he celebrated a party with each and every worker at the Gucci headquarters in Rome, where he danced and drank “more than all of them.” The intention? To generate a sense of family among the team, knowing closely the isolating potential of the creative director’s role.
