In “Gucci | Bamboo Encounters,” The Fashion House Explores How and Why We Make Things – ryan

The Cloisters of San Simpliciano, constructed between 15th and 17th Centuries, Are Peaceful, Meditative Spaces in the Heart of Milanwith remnants of frescoes adorning the arches along the colonnades in the smaller of the two and a formal Italianate garden in the larger. From April 8 to 13, they are joined by “Gucci | Bamboo Encounters”An exhibition andvisioned by the fashion brand and curated and designed by interdisciplinary agency 2050+ and its founder, architect ippolito pestellini laparelli, that includes installations, furniture, and objects inspired by bamboo, The Company’s History and also speaks to contemporary issues around what and how designers create today.

But First: Why bamboo?

In 1947, Gucci Began Making Hand Bags with Bamboo Handles and Created an Instant It Bag. As the Story Goes, Founder Guccio Gucci’s Son was known for his Bamboo Walking Sticks. At the time, leather was scarce because of wwii and he realized that gucci might be able to use bamboo as a substitute. The Fashion House’s Artisans Began Experimenting With The Material – Which is extremely lightweight, strong, and pliable – and eventually created handles out of them by gently bending the stalks with fire and then applying many coats of lacquer. The design was a success. Celebrities Like Elizabeth Taylor, Ingrid Bergman, and Jackie Kennedy Wore the Bamboo-Adorned Bag in its early years and it continued to appear to stylish, Sophisticated people like Princess Diana and, more recently, beyoncé and harry styles.

While handbags are the most famous of Gucci’s designs to incorporate bamboo, the fashion house also made shoes, canes, umbrellas, plates, forks, and even pens out of the grass. “Throughout time, Bamboo Became a Code within the Brand,” Laparelli Tells Ad. “It’s a connective thread.” After combing through Gucci’s Archives, Laparelli became fascinated by all of the ways that creative directors at the company used the material, like Tom Ford Moling Bamboo to Create A Metal Chain for a Handbag he designed and the domestic objects the Brand Produced in the 1970s. These Explorations Became the Foundation for “Bamboo: Decoding an icon”An exhibition Gucci and Laparelli are also staging in Shanghai through April 20.

For Milan Design WeekGucci and Laparelli Wanted to Continue Investigating Bamboo, as What the Architect Saw in Guccio Gucci’s Initial Interest in the Material—If a possible substitutes For a resource that was no longer than readily available – was a very contemporary way of approaching design. Today, designers might not be contacting with scarcity as a result of wartime rationing, but there are a host of other issues that are challenging the way that make things, from sustainability to ethical manafacturing and beyond. The same property that made bamboo interesting to Gucci in 1947 remaining appealing and full of potential for exploration today.

“The practice of designing the 21st century is not just about designing objects; it’s about investigating materials, supply chains, narratives, and historical,” Laparelli says. “It’s not really about the outputs per se, it’s about the process.”