MILAN — A roster of marquee ambassadors and celebrities or a group of new faces? Gucci can rely on both.
After unveiling campaigns for specific product categories with the likes of Billie Eilish, Paul Mescal, Xiao Zhan, Kendall Jenner and Bad Bunny, and most recently, with Ni Ni and Chang Chen, the Florentine house unveiled the campaign for Gucci Ancora, the debut collection of creative director Sabato De Sarno.
For the occasion, the designer opted for some of the fresh faces who exclusively walked his first show for the brand last September during Milan Fashion Week. Rather than leverage talents’ popularity and social media influence to generate buzz, De Sarno decided to put product first and continued his mission to chart a new course with five new names, who combined have only about 21,000 followers on Instagram.
Ana Rossolovich, who opened De Sarno’s first show; Fadia Ghaab; Jiahui Zhang; Nyajuok Gatdet, and Violet Hume posed in front of the camera of David Sims in a group or alone, wearing key looks of the Gucci spring 2024 collection. The images evoke fashion campaigns from the ‘90s, a pivotal and formative decade for De Sarno, forging his fashion vision and influencing the current aesthetic he’s bringing to the brand.
The Gucci Ancora ad campaign.
David Sims/Courtesy of Gucci
“Sensuality conceived as an attitude of beauty, freedom and confidence becomes the overarching theme of a collection that extends a personal invitation to every woman — a call to live exactly in their own unique way, to revel in the distinct emotion that only fashion can inspire: ancora,” the company said in a statement.
The Italian term, which translates as “again” in English, has become a mantra for De Sarno over the past six months, appearing on billboards and extending to different projects of the house.
“Ancora is a word that you use when your desire is not over yet, whether it’s a kiss or an embrace, or making love; it’s as if you own something and you want more of it,” De Sarno told WWD at the time of his debut, adding that he wanted to “fall in love with fashion all over again.”
The Gucci Ancora ad campaign.
David Sims/Courtesy of Gucci
He expressed this desire by celebrating heritage elements of Gucci and incorporating them in his pared-back vision and clean and leggy silhouettes. The campaign spotlights the tailored coats, super-short shorts, logo hoodies, body-skimming tanks and knit sets he paraded at the show, as well as embossed pencil skirts, pumps and the iconic Jackie bag rendered in the Rosso Ancora burgundy hue that is becoming a signature.
The Italian term was also reprised to mark De Sarno’s first Ancora Notte eveningwear and menswear line, unveiled at the Gucci-sponsored LACMA Art + Film Gala in November. In addition to a long list of Hollywood stars, talents in the campaign attended the event wearing eveningwear pieces designed by De Sarno, flanked by colleagues including Mariacarla Boscono and Vittoria Ceretti.
The gala marked a return to Los Angeles for De Sarno, who set his first advertising campaign for Gucci at the Chateau Marmont hotel, already tapping Sims to photograph Daria Werbowy in a black bikini bottom and statement Marina Chain gold jewelry.
The Gucci Ancora ad campaign.
David Sims/Courtesy of Gucci
