Jocelyn YihComment

GUCCI CIRCOLO SHOREDITCH

Jocelyn YihComment
GUCCI CIRCOLO SHOREDITCH

Phase I

A corner in East London has been spiced up and commands attention. On Shoreditch’s Chance Street, you’d find a pop-up with the instantly recognisable Gucci logo. Having opened its doors last month, this experimental space will show Gucci’s Aria collection, designed by Alessandro Michele and presented in April 2021.

Phase II

After a month Gucci Circolo Shoreditch revamped to drop ‘The Hacker Project’, a merging of codes between Balenciaga and Gucci. Think Gucci’s flora pattern on the triple S, and Gucci’s monogram on the hourglass. This hybrid is an exploration into questions like: what is authentic? What is appropriation?

Not only has the façade changed from beaming white lights to a sharp midnight blue, the whole building has been reinvented from the inside out: its exterior walls have been covered in an eye-catching creative featuring both the GG monogram and Balenciaga’s logo. Inside, elements from the fashion show were replicated: guests are greeted with a vibrant red entryway, followed by a blue GG monogrammed carpet and floor-to-ceiling mirrored silver square tiles. There’s a great sense of novelty and excitement. 

The experience continues in an adjacent room, complete with the exact cameras and flashbulbs used in the collection release. Opposite, a wall of flora and fauna that shows the Aria runway. With a pre-booking, guests can also visit the (free) Gucci cafe and the plush red listening lounge, with a Gucci sounds played on a black Gucci record player.

The store will remain open in its current form until 5th December 2021 when it will enter its third and final phase. 

Phase III to be continued…