Bon Voyage

Gucci Cosmos is a riveting journey, capturing a century's worth of enriching tales and brilliant designs from the House and told through different forms of technology.

- AMELIA CHIA

Outside the West Bund Art Center in Shanghai, the peerless sky pops handsomely against the iconic red and green façade of Gucci Cosmos. The former aircraft factory has been transformed to hold 102 years of Gucci’s history. There’s excited chatter as I prepare to enter the exhibition, which kicked off in Shanghai until the end of June before it travels the world. Conceived and designed by renowned British contemporary artist Es Devlin and curated by Italian fashion theorist and critic Maria Luisa Frisa, Gucci Cosmos is a spirited voyage encapsulating the brand’s past, present and future. There are eight ‘worlds’ that bring together a treasure trove of items and artefacts—many previously unseen—from the Gucci Archive, which exists as a repository and working hub for the House’s creative teams in Florence.

From founding father Guccio Gucci’s nascent ambitions to the flamboyant dreams of its creative directors Tom Ford, Frida Giannini and Alessandro Michele, the essence of time plays a crucial role in the exhibition. Gucci Cosmos took a year to come to fruition and Devlin likens Gucci’s storied history to the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence, which took 140 years to build. Cathedral thinking was key, Devlin surmises, defining the term as “an idea that cannot be accomplished in one generation.