Italian house GUCCI presented its Spring Summer 2024 Men’s Collection, that commemorates the 70th anniversary of the iconic Gucci Horsebit Loafer, with Gucci Horsebeat Society event, during the ongoing Milan Fashion Week. The immersive event features installations by ten international artists, designers, and creatives, providing a transforming examination of the Horsebit Loafer‘s symbolism via fashion, art, and audio-visual aspects. Alessio Ascari, the creative director and curator of Spazio Maiocchi in Milan, curated the exhibition. The space showcased a multi-disciplinary experience, with performances by Spanish artist and choreographer Candela Capitán, as well as DJ sets by the renowned Parisian electronic music label Ed Banger.
SPRING SUMMER 2024 COLLECTIONS
The Horsebit, designed by Aldo Gucci in 1953 as a loafer embellishment, has since become a universal Gucci icon, symbolizing the community embodied by the brand. It has been interpreted in numerous hardware and themes across accessories, jewelry, and ready-to-wear over the past seven decades, illustrating the brand’s evolution. Gucci Horsebeat Society reimagines the legacy of the country club in a contemporary context imbued with creative counterculture by delving into the equestrian roots of the Horsebit. The exhibition featured a collection of sensory and quasi-domestic environments inhabited with specifically commissioned artworks. The ten artists give an abstract and innovative take of the ageless Horsebit logo, whose methods range from applied to digital arts.
Russian architect and multimedia artist Harry Nuriev of Crosby Studios created a conceptual patio integrating the Horsebit in furniture design within the courtyard of Spazio Maiocchi. Anna Franceschini, an Italian visual artist, curated a cabinet of curiosities containing relics from the Gucci archives. A bedroom space displayed a visually arresting image by American photographer Charlie Engman, which was accompanied by the historical artwork Bedroom Ensemble II by Swiss artist Sylvie Fleury. A theatrical dining area with a surrealist table made by American sculptor Pitterpatter and a collection of exotic creatures by Canadian digital artist Blatant Space were featured in the main exhibition space. A film by British photographer and filmmaker Bolade Banjo documenting the history of the Horsebit through historical photos and modern footage was shown in the cinema room. Guests immersed themselves in the viewing experience surrounded by light sculptures created by South Korean designer Gyuhan Lee, inspired by the Horsebit motif and traditional hanji paper making.
The exhibition highlights the evolution of the Horsebit Loafer over the years, becoming associated with a shifting and more liberal attitude toward traditional dress rules. It rose to prominence in the 1960s, thanks to cultural icons such as Francis Ford Coppola, Fred Astaire, and Alain Delon. The loafer was popularized in the 1970s by a new generation of teenagers, notably Jodie Foster, who was spotted skateboarding in it in 1977. It became a symbol for career women in the 1980s, and it reflected Gucci’s sensual and refined aesthetic in the 1990s. In the 2010s, the Horsebit took on a new classic form with the introduction of the shearling-lined Princetown slippers.
The meta discussion between the Gucci Spring Summer 2024 Men’s Collection and the Horsebit Loafer took place in the “closet” room, which was covered with collage wallpaper by Australian image-maker Ed Davis.
Discover every look from the GUCCI Spring Summer 2024 Men’s Collection in the gallery below:
Discover images from the Gucci Horsebit Loafer exhibition in the gallery below:
