September 10, 2021: Quoting the words of Alessandro Michele, “When I was a child, going to the stationery store and finding pencils, pens, notebooks, games, meant bringing a dream into my daily routine. They were fine, well-made objects that spoke of craftsmanship and that, though part of my everyday life, were able to give off a magical, mysterious and wonderful aura. For this reason, presenting the Gucci Lifestyle collection in Milan through the Gucci Cartoleria is a sort of consecration, a tribute that was right for me to pay. So, I imagined a small cabinet of curiosities, a Wunderkammer, like the cave of Ali Baba, that accommodate these everyday objects and return them to a fairy-tale dimension. I could have included them in the collections long ago, but they were not strictly related to clothing and accessories. That’s why I wanted to build a whimsical space where they could be laid out, to restore to everyday life that sense of wonder that makes them so dear to me.”
Available in select Gucci stores and on the website, the collection includes a large selection of stationery items, such as notebooks with covers in Gucci supreme canvas or in Gucci’s Demetra, which is an innovative development from the House’s own artisans and technicians and has been created using the same process for tanning and animal-free raw materials that are from renewable and bio based sources. With the notebook and notepad pages made from FSC-certified pure cellulose paper, the cover of each model carries a motif which is a graphic pattern, floral design or Disney character that is then repeated on the pages, edged in blue, red, green or gold to match the colour of the ribbon marker and the binding, each of them bearing the GG watermark. The Gucci logo is hot-stamped on the inside. Complementing the notebooks is the hexagonal notepad.
The Gucci letter case contains 20 envelopes and 20 cards featuring a Gucci print on the inside, for those who are fond of hand-written letters. There is also a stationery set with a notebook, 20 envelopes and 20 cards available.
The House has developed a new pen, to write on such precious and distinctive stationery, following the design rules of ‘Divine Proportion’, with the proportional relationship between cap and barrel being an expression of the golden ratio. The refillable pen is in brass with low lead content, plated in either palladium or gold, using a nickel-free galvanic process and is presented in a Demetra carrying case. There are pencil cases also available, either in Demetra or GG supreme, with different patterns. There is a zip-up case matching a set of coloured pencils, that can be rolled up with brown leather trim and a green-red-green House Web stripe fastening. This comprises 40 hexagonal Caran d’Ache coloured pencils in cedar wood, each with a hot-foil logo and stars stamped by hand, making each pencil a unique piece.
There are six graphite pencils which are included in the two styles of the hand-made pencil boxes- oval or oblong, created using FSC-certified pure cellulose paper. Both the pencils and boxes are patterned with Gucci designs. The product selection of the writing implements is completed by a collection of domed-paperweights, produced by an Italian glassmaker. It is the presence of micro bubbles and cloudiness that guarantee that they are hand-cragged, with a base made from Demetra, featuring the iconic Gucci decorative elements along with a hot-stamped Gucci logo.
There are games and playing cards in classic Gucci style. The card decks, coming in cases covered in GG supreme, single or double, feature a mythical landscape on the back, while the ones supplied in cases with the graphic geometric G print have the same print on the back. These cards have made by a celebrated and historic Italian company, Modiano, founded in Trieste by Saul David Modiano, a merchant from Thessaloniki, Greece in 1868.
A hand-crafted dice set, made in Italy in bio-resin using traditional manufacturing techniques, has been developed by the House. The resin for the dice features a mix of colours for a marbled effect, which makes each die unique. Each face has been digitally printed with stars, instead of the customary dots and decorative GG symbols.
Making a great gift are the briefcases containing either a poker or a backgammon set. With a shape inspired by briefcases from the ‘70s housed in the Gucci Archive in Florence, the sets include chips hand-crafted from bio-resin for a marbled effect, making each piece unique. The cases are available in a brightly coloured geometric G pattern or in GG supreme canvas, with brown leather handles and trim.
There are fans made of wood and satin silk printed with iconic Gucci patterns, in the category of playful and useful items, which come with cases featuring the same motifs. A set containing sleeping masks, pillow and mules crafted from environmentally sustainable silk and viscose, printed in a variety of House designs is available for the discerning traveler. Slippers which have been developed for maximised comfort, are presented so that each pair can be stored in a drawstring pouch in a matching print. Gucci has also created a garment carrier made from water-repellent linen, treated to be rain- and stain-resistant, offered in a variety of prints, complete with hanger, for the well-dressed globetrotter.
On offer are also satin silk pyjamas featuring different House prints and coming in a printed silk pouch with an inner Gucci label featuring the same print found on the garment.
