Tuscany is ready for a New Renaissance: Gucci opens an ArtLab

Tuscany is ready for a New Renaissance: Gucci opens an ArtLab

From crisis to opportunity

As we mentioned, the new Gucci ArtLab is going to focus on leather goods, which currently make up a significant portion of the brand’s production. This was not always the case, however. When current president Marco Bizzarri started working at the prestigious Maison, this particular line was dwindling and the former administration had planned to shut down several departments, laying off over 5000 workers. The new policy of focusing on sustainable innovation and giving young creatives room to experiment and expand their creativity, however, paid off. Gucci footwear and leather goods are currently worth over €4Bn. As a result, the inauguration of the Gucci ArtLab in April was attended by its 800 young employees, as a testimony to the success of the brand’s new course.

Innovation, sustainability and Italian craftsmanship

This brand new hub of world-class fashion contains traditional artisanal workshops, which make the backbone of Italian quality leather goods. Tradition, however, is matched by creativity and innovation, which can be seen in the very architecture of the facilities – in which the walls have been decorated by street artists such as Ignasi Monreal andAngelica Hicks to represent the brand’s values. Here, young creatives sit around long tables, in the fashion of traditional apprenticeship, and learn from experienced masters, applying their creativity to sophisticated techniques, creating prototypes and shaping the near future of fashion and taste. Tradition and innovation, however, are effectively combined by a production line that employs cutting-edge technology to assemble every creation, after the prototypes have been perfected by Gucci’s artisans and designers. There’s something uniquely Italian about this process: the region itself is a hotbed of artisanal knowledge and skills. Gucci’s connection to Italy in general and to this part of Tuscany in particular has long been one of the key ingredients in the brand’s success. As a result, the ArtLab is going to hire 900 more people over the next year, adding to the over 2000 existing workers in Tuscany.

The future at a glance

Gucci is also investing in R&D, dedicating a whole section of its ArtLab to new material and packaging research. This is an effective way of placing the brand at the forefront of innovation in its field, guaranteeing that, if any breakthroughs occur in this field, Gucci products will be able to implement them before anyone else.