Assouline Gucci The Art of Silk

Gucci: The Art of Silk tells the story of the House’s extraordinary silk scarves, the first title of its kind to do so. Given exclusive access to the Gucci archives, located in a fifteenth century Florentine palazzo, the book charts an unusual history of this iconic accessory, from its inception as a gift to Princess Grace of Monaco to its revivals by a succession of Gucci creative directors, namely Tom Ford, Frida Giannini, Alessandro Michele, and Sabato de Sarno. In these pages, readers will discover how the scarves have at times made and mirrored the fortunes of the House itself: how the Gucci family aspired to be modern Medicis; the impact of Renaissance Florence; the continuum of craft and creativity—with never-before-seen imagery inside Gucci’s ateliers; the power of celebrity and aristocracy (from Harry Styles to HRH Queen Elizabeth II); and the role of contemporary art, highlighted here through a first-look preview of the latest Gucci silk scarf project, “90x90,” nine limited-edition scarves from nine cutting-edge artists.

The book’s slipcase and cover features Gucci’s most famous print, the “Flora,” which contains forty-three varieties of flowers, plants, and insects in thirty-seven different colors, all painted entirely by hand and inspired by Botticelli’s Allegory of Spring.

Lavishly illustrated throughout, with reportage in Florence, Milan, and Como, Gucci: The Art of Silk tells a sumptuous visual tale of silk scarves, together with the people who have made them and the people who have worn them—and one that explains why these scarves have become some of the fashion world’s most iconic accessories.