See Gucci’s New David Sims-Shot Campaign

Since Sabato De Sarno debuted his first womenswear collection as the new creative director of Gucci in September last year, his concise and streamlined vision for the heritage Italian label put to rest any rumours and rumblings of a total rebrand, as we’ve come to predict with the welcoming of a new director. Instead, he looked inwards, to the house itself – assessing its varied history and incorporating threads and buzzwords that pull each era together: provocative, androgynous, slick, timeless, and distinctly Italian.

Today, the house unveiled its Spring/Summer 2024 campaign, Ancora, named after his debut show and shot through with the specific shade of burgundy-red which has become the house’s new signature colour. Shot by David Sims – the first photographer to work with De Sarno when he fell in love with fashion for the first time – the pair have joined forces once more to convey this concept. “It’s a story of the joy of life,” reads the manifesto, in the creative director’s own words, following the unveiling of the S/S24 collection. “Of passion, of humanity, of people, of real life.”

Five new faces feature in Gucci’s new campaign: Ana Ross, Fadia Ghaab, Jiahui Zhang, Nyajuok Gatdet, and Violet Hume – the latter being the daughter of Australian model Kirsty Hume, an original face of Tom Ford’s epochal 1990s Gucci shows. With group shots of models captured in unison and stripped-back portraits, where bags cover breasts, the offering conveys those hedonic codes that Gucci has historically cherished.

Rooted in sartorial precision, the campaign fits with a broader shift in womenswear as a whole, where beloved tropes of sensuality and elegance are revived with new, modern descendants that welcome a more diverse range of fashion devotees. The launch of the campaign comes a mere four days before De Sarno unveils his new vision for Gucci menswear, which will debut at Milan Men’s Fashion Week on January 12.