You can now look no further than Gucci if you’re after a sublime collection of notebooks, pencils, travelling game sets or paperweights. In conjunction with Milano Design Week, Gucci has opened a temporary pop-up store in Milan at Via Manzoni 19 with a whimsical, fairytale twist. Taking inspiration from the Italian stationery stores of his childhood, creative director Alessandro Michele combines the brilliant craftsmanship of the Gucci Lifestyle collection with the magic of Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland.
“When I was a child, going to the stationery store and finding pencils, pens, notebooks, games, meant bringing a dream into my daily routine,” says Michele. ‘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.” This aura permeates the celluloid of each piece of promotional art. Videos and photographs were taken by Max Siedentopf in Tuscany, at the Castello Sonnino, a 16th-century fortress built by the Medici family. Against the dark wood of bookshelves, fine dining rooms and pewter-stocked kitchens, everyday Gucci items turn the castle into a cabinet of curiosities.
Colourful pencils blossom against glass table tops as pencil cases curl up protectively alongside them. Houses of cards are arranged out on the lawn, whilst indoors, they explode around a sole figure like confetti. Notebooks flap across the room as a man can only watch on. In a maze of mirrors, a pale blue, leaf patterned sleeping mask appears on and off. Perched imperiously on a kitchen table, a peacock looks on in surprise as floating masks outdo his feathers.
We may not have the experience of Milan’s pop-up store, but we are getting the gorgeous collection here in Singapore. Gucci Lifestyle focuses on the brand’s signature black and grey print, as well as abstract shapes in primary colours, alongside dreamy florals and botanicals. The collection includes notebooks filled with cellulose paper, playing cards made by the historic company Modiano and paperweights crafted by Italian glass-blowers. It also features more unconventional items such as poker and backgammon sets with handcrafted chips, and styled after the 70’s briefcases found in the Gucci archives; wooden fans with satin silk; as well as satin silk unisex pyjamas. Whatever your interiors needs, Gucci has you set—with that little bit of extra magic.
The Gucci Lifestyle collection will be available from 10 September in Gucci Paragon in Singapore.
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Playing cards with case, $420
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Stationery set, $490
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Satin silk pyjama set, $4,240
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Glass-domed paperweight, $350
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A selection of notebooks, $550
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Single notebook, $330
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Memo pad, $250
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Pencil case, $520
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Wooden fan, $690
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Dice set with case, $550
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A case of graphite pencils, $330
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Colour pencil set, $1,040
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