Common Thread

Artwork by Sara Leghissa. Image courtesy of Gucci.

Square, flat, and holding endless possibilities, a silk scarf is the nearest fashion equivalent of a blank canvas. In this way, its patterns herald the purest distillation of a brand’s cultural heritage. Where Gucci is concerned, this manifests in five long-standing categories: flora, nautical, equestrian, and animalia, as well as its signature GG logo.

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Since the Italian house forayed into silk craftsmanship nearly seven decades ago, Gucci has collaborated with artists on these patterns. This month the brand unveils its 90 x 90 Project—so-named after the dimensions of a standard square scarf—with designs by nine different artists from around the world. The debut is central to The Art of Silk, a new Gucci initiative that also includes the tome GUCCI: The Art of Silk: The Story of Gucci Scarves.

Artwork by Gio Pastori. Image courtesy of Gucci.

Robert Barry, Everett Glenn, Sara Leghissa, Currynew, Jonny Niesche, Gio Pastori, Walter Petrone, Yu Cai, and Inji Seo each devised original takes on house’s signature categories. Leghissa’s interpretation of the nautical theme, for instance, crosses into her text-based practice, putting the boldface, parenthesized phrase “Something I’ve Always Dreamed Of” at center surrounded by a border of interlacing marine ropes, anchors, and golden chains. For the equestrian aesthetic, one of Pastori’s scarves features a minimalist illustration of Gucci’s Horsebit motif, linked together and spiraling within the frame. Niesche embellishes the floral and animalia compositions by placing an abstract multi-color-gradient square in the middle, infusing a bright, geometric luminosity somewhere between Josef Albers, Mark Rothko, and James Turrell. Elsewhere, Yu reimagines all five genres in her signature vaporwave palette, rendering the patterns in neon-pastel pink and blue hues. 

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Among the notable artistic predecessors to those in the 90 x 90 Project is the late Italian painter Vittorio Accornero de Testa, who churned out 80 scarf designs for Gucci between 1960 and 1981, building intricate arrangements of floral and animal forms. One instance, from 1973, is bursting with varied bouquets of tulips, roses, daisies, and more, while purple and blue ribbons wrap around their stems and twirl along the perimeters. The impact is dynamic, nearly chaotic, yet ultimately lands at a harmonious balance, between nature and the ways humans embrace its creations.

Artwork by Yu Cai. Image courtesy of Gucci.

Across Gucci’s archive of scarf designs, themes walk the line between formality and adventure, wilderness and elegance. A life of refinement emerges, unconstrained and always lived to the fullest. Equestrian and nautical imagery evokes the simple enjoyments of recreational pastimes like horseback riding, or setting sail across vast bodies of water. As the 90 x 90 Project brings nine artists together with contemporary visions—whether influenced by Internet aesthetics, graphic shapes and texts, or abstract palettes—old traditions meet fresh takes throughout the collection.