Sabato De Sarno - Designer, Creative Director of Gucci

[tourbillions]

There is a line that should not be crossed, Hermes people leave on time home and the are doing well, also at other huge brands that are big with successful CD i know people they have good life and work balance & it's not like this.
Its always the same ones you hear issues with about.

Hermes isnt a good example, not exactly the pinnacle of creativity. You can see how coded and controlled everything is so im not surprised they leave their work once its time to go home. Creativity is usually an extension of someones self, and it needs to come from their feelings. You cannot put a timing on it. Sometimes you cannot force ideas to come within the confines of the regular hours. If they wanted regular hours, better work in an accounting office or in a bank.

re: above... I am not sure which collection you prefer to but his core was always well constructed dresses with pretty fresh silhouettes. Only later did he resort to overstyling, even then his clothes were never overdesigned. I could even say he had effortless chic looks specially at the beginning of his tenure at givenchy. Then he met the kardashians and kanye and decided the future of fashion is wearing body hugging carpetry.

 

[Creative]

^well, normally the extra hours in couture houses are because the teams are understaffed and sometimes just getting help from 10 clueless interns. The creative directors are barely in the office with the teams, just for the fittings.

 

[avonlea002]

Please leave my poor Frida alone lol. Am I the only one here who liked her Gucci?

 

[Creative]

Please leave my poor Frida alone lol. Am I the only one here who liked her Gucci?

I think so 🥹

Although still better than AM and Saturday Adams.

 

[tourbillions]

^well, normally the extra hours in couture houses are because the teams are understaffed and sometimes just getting help from 10 clueless interns. The creative directors are barely in the office with the teams, just for the fittings.

why is this giving no-name couture calendar couture house vibes. Anyway this is a different scenario than a designer being a diva resulting to late hours i guess.

 

[LadyJunon]

Please leave my poor Frida alone lol. Am I the only one here who liked her Gucci?

I thought that her Gucci was actually really solid. The issue is that she's bookended by two much more influential designers.

why is this giving no-name couture calendar couture house vibes.

Because that's how they often operate. Lots of the newer indie RTW labels work like that too due to lack of funds. Often times, it's the founder/creative director, one or two permanent seamstress and an in-and-out carousel of unpaid interns. Funny enough, their menswear counterparts are doing so much better in terms of business and employee security.

 

[Creative]

why is this giving no-name couture calendar couture house vibes. Anyway this is a different scenario than a designer being a diva resulting to late hours i guess.

It’s like that in every house.

If you are in the office with your staff, you do the work. If you went to Israel for the pride and come back at 18:00 pm to do a fitting that should’ve taken place at 10:00… and the only staff that you have are the interns that want to have a job and 70% of the staff already left…

 

[Lola701]

omg i just remember this bag its by Frida for gucci era

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It's a Frida revival with Ancora LOL even the photography and clothes and bags.

FW2014 was probably her best collection ever all over: the bags, the shoes, the clothes. Everything worked.
I’m so glad I bought and still owns those pieces.

Nevertheless she wasn’t great for Gucci anyway. Her terrible pants!

 

[GivenchyHomme]

It’s time to wipe the slate clean and start fresh, and this extends beyond just runway collections. The entire brand image is in dire need of a makeover. The numerous campaigns released over the past year have tarnished the prestige the brand once held. A singular vision across all marketing efforts is essential. All of those juvenile capsule collections must cease immediately. Perhaps they can be revisited as a pet project in the future when stability is restored, but now is not the time. Quality should take precedence. Discontinuing items like the hideous lobster clasp Jackie and the subpar streetwear offerings—t-shirts, sneakers, and hoodies—would be a good start. In terms of marketing, it’s time to bring out the big guns. Hire top photographers like Mert & Marcus, Inez & Vinoodh, and Meisel. The choice of models is equally crucial. Gucci is not the place for unknown faces, especially those chosen recently. The brand needs the iconic Gucci girls—Raquel, Natasha, Joan—models who truly sell. Sabato, swallow your pride and prioritize what’s best for the brand over personal ego. Lastly, someone needs to light a fire under him to elevate his game. Gucci is not a brand people buy for basics to incorporate into their wardrobe; it’s a brand sustained by showpieces and leather goods. Michele had mastered that formula. There is potential, but it's hidden underneath a thick layer of desperation. Less is more. Quality over quantity should be the guiding principle moving forward. The approach need not be boring or overly safe, but it must possess enduring substance. The scales are tipping; it’s now or never.

 

[Creative]

why is this giving no-name couture calendar couture house vibes. Anyway this is a different scenario than a designer being a diva resulting to late hours i guess.

Actually, I’m thinking of a very important HC brand. When a new designer arrived, they fired everybody and the team was basically 10 people… for all departments. They were still doing billions. Understaffing is common in every fashion brand, in every department. With the right amount of people or course you can have a life balance. You don’t need to work in a bank if the company invests in the teams.

 

[PDFSD]

Hermes isnt a good example, not exactly the pinnacle of creativity. You can see how coded and controlled everything is so im not surprised they leave their work once its time to go home. Creativity is usually an extension of someones self, and it needs to come from their feelings. You cannot put a timing on it. Sometimes you cannot force ideas to come within the confines of the regular hours. If they wanted regular hours, better work in an accounting office or in a bank.

re: above... I am not sure which collection you prefer to but his core was always well constructed dresses with pretty fresh silhouettes. Only later did he resort to overstyling, even then his clothes were never overdesigned. I could even say he had effortless chic looks specially at the beginning of his tenure at givenchy. Then he met the kardashians and kanye and decided the future of fashion is wearing body hugging carpetry.

I knew someone would bring up the creativity of Hermes in relationship to the work and life balance :-)
Actually Hermes is very chaotic and not so military run when speaking of the creative studios office´s its very messy and French.

I am well aware of fashion working hours in peak moments and i extreme cases of mismanagement of diva creative directors / disrespectful behaviour due to unprofessional behaviors following substance abuse etc

Its a job and style office is a office and all my friends and people i know that work in the industry on various levels in and with fashion houses know the difference of working hard to make things happen and are not wall flowers or new to the game.

This suffering for art is big myth, Miuccia would do the Miu Miu fashion show collections in 2 weeks and yes they would be up working on details till late, rest of the time the teams take it slower and work on the other drops per example no body was sleeping waiting for her at 3 am to decide to continue or not or when she felt like it.

There is a difference in team work and galvanizing your teams and abuse of power, lots of people working in fashion have no issue with over time and are good at their job and love it.

it's no industry secret that Riccardo has issues that greatly affect the process for a fashion brand.

And on this point i i stick to the real events of multiple people that have worked with him and never would again because its not worth it .

 

[Creative]

It’s time to wipe the slate clean and start fresh, and this extends beyond just runway collections. The entire brand image is in dire need of a makeover. The numerous campaigns released over the past year have tarnished the prestige the brand once held. A singular vision across all marketing efforts is essential. All of those juvenile capsule collections must cease immediately. Perhaps they can be revisited as a pet project in the future when stability is restored, but now is not the time. Quality should take precedence. Discontinuing items like the hideous lobster clasp Jackie and the subpar streetwear offerings—t-shirts, sneakers, and hoodies—would be a good start. In terms of marketing, it’s time to bring out the big guns. Hire top photographers like Mert & Marcus, Inez & Vinoodh, and Meisel. The choice of models is equally crucial. Gucci is not the place for unknown faces, especially those chosen recently. The brand needs the iconic Gucci girls—Raquel, Natasha, Joan—models who truly sell. Sabato, swallow your pride and prioritize what’s best for the brand over personal ego. Lastly, someone needs to light a fire under him to elevate his game. Gucci is not a brand people buy for basics to incorporate into their wardrobe; it’s a brand sustained by showpieces and leather goods. Michele had mastered that formula. There is potential, but it's hidden underneath a thick layer of desperation. Less is more. Quality over quantity should be the guiding principle moving forward. The approach need not be boring or overly safe, but it must possess enduring substance. The scales are tipping; it’s now or never.

While I agree with most of it, I think the merchandise team and the management team are the ones that we should blame for the product offer of the website and for the incoherence.

I think no designer loves logos in 2024. I feel he is just a puppet. Yes, he has 0 vision, but I feel they wanted somebody like him to make corporate design decisions.

I think no designer in the world would come up with something like this if it wasn’t orchestrated by the management team.

And since they see the new image is not performing, they are more desperate and the outcome is even worse (check the website). I was in a brand like that, that was drowning, and to save it they made short term decisions that ended up being a catastrophe (as I expected).

 

[GivenchyHomme]

Please leave my poor Frida alone lol. Am I the only one here who liked her Gucci?

Not at all. I will admit she had some misses, but overall, she was consistent. Her aesthetic was elegant, quintessentially Italian, and truly luxurious—a word rarely used to describe fashion these days. The menswear was outstanding; I only wish I could have afforded it back then. Fortunately, I can achieve a similar look from other Italian brands like Berluti, D&G, and Armani. I believe that's what Gucci was aiming for with Sabato, but he lacks the instinct and feel for it. Style isn’t something you can learn. He may be a capable assistant designer, but the role of creative director is clearly not a good fit.

 

[NoInvite]

At least Frida gave us many sassy shows and iconic campaigns.

 

[PDFSD]

I don’t know why I can’t quote, but I just wanted to say that for me RT’s vision is not very dark tbh. It’s like very commercial “dark”, very naïf dark, like rich teenagers wanting to be bad boys idk.

Also, his dark is mainly based on the gimmicks and the over design, the tshirts with the prints, the ugly piercings, maybe the make up and the settings…. But the core was quite normal imo.

I do think he can do well at a big maison. I think he can be chic if he wants, very commercial… and infuse a strong aesthetic to the brand.

For me in the best sense RT is a glamorous bourgeois style, dark vibe Rick Owens department with Andy Warhol pop touch, at best a sunny day at the beach recovering post party intoxication vibes , not very Disney proof PC mainstream lifestyle aspirations for a wider audience.

Forsure he is better than Ancora guy this no doubt x 1000000000000000, but the best guy for the job for me no.

 

[Creative]

For me in the best sense RT is a glamorous bourgeois style, dark vibe Rick Owens department with Andy Warhol pop touch, at best a sunny day at the beach recovering post party intoxication vibes , not very Disney proof PC mainstream lifestyle aspirations for a wider audience.

Forsure he is better than Ancora guy this no doubt x 1000000000000000, but the best guy for the job for me no.

Who’d be your top candidate? Just curious.

 

[Thefrenchy]

I am well aware of fashion working hours in peak moments and i extreme cases of mismanagement of diva creative directors / disrespectful behaviour due to unprofessional behaviors following substance abuse etc

Its a job and style office is a office and all my friends and people i know that work in the industry on various levels in and with fashion houses know the difference of working hard to make things happen and are not wall flowers or new to the game.

This suffering for art is big myth, Miuccia would do the Miu Miu fashion show collections in 2 weeks and yes they would be up working on details till late, rest of the time the teams take it slower and work on the other drops per example no body was sleeping waiting for her at 3 am to decide to continue or not or when she felt like it.

There is a difference in team work and galvanizing your teams and abuse of power, lots of people working in fashion have no issue with over time and are good at their job and love it.

it's no industry secret that Riccardo has issues that greatly affect the process for a fashion brand.

And on this point i i stick to the real events of multiple people that have worked with him and never would again because its not worth it .

I can't agree more, also this kind of attitude needs to stay in the 90s where it belongs.

Nowadays, many of us have become very protective of our private lives and well-being; and while there are moments when things get more intense due to some key moments (i.e fashion shows, campaigns...), most of us are very keen to draw a line. We give a lot to support the vision of a designer, but will be quick to peace out if there is a lack of consideration / respect.

I've been fortunate enough to work closely with multiple creative directors over the years (some legends and some of the newer generation who are rather controversial at tFS ) and thankfully that side of things was never an issue. But friends of mine who worked directly with RT confirmed they would absolutely never work with him again as well.

 

[PDFSD]

Who’d be your top candidate? Just curious.

Hard to answer because i don't have overview of every talent out there at other houses, but i hope it's someone we did not hear from yet, but that this person has rigor and vision of world building for a brand like Gucci but also pushes the idea of a luxury house forward, someone that can surprise and be innovating.

Also in a way to unify all the different chapters of the 100 plus history of the brand in amalgamation of creative output.

if it had to be someone well known i have to think longer ...hard not much left to be excited about.

 

[Xone]

Hire top photographers like Mert & Marcus, Inez & Vinoodh, and Meisel. The choice of models is equally crucial. Gucci is not the place for unknown faces, especially those chosen recently. The brand needs the iconic Gucci girls—Raquel, Natasha, Joan—models who truly sell. Sabato, swallow your pride and prioritize what’s best for the brand over personal ego.

That's what i 've been saying before....but he is so preoccupied with his new-found fame to see beyond...and when u have a team that constantly tells you how wonderful you are, it doesn't help.

Also bring a better stylist for the show and campaigns....and a real Artistic Director,not that Riccardo person...

 

[blueorchid]

What are M&M and I&V gonna deliver in 2024? Am I missing something? When have they last produced passable work?