Luxury archives: past or future?

Recently, numerous fashion luxury brands have decided to dive into the past. Thanks to their archives, they manage to amaze their customers with historical prints used for past collections. Clothes and accessories are the symbols of a continuing evolution of these brands for which innovation and history go at the same speed. Modernised collections become every time a great achievement for brands that, believing more and more in the uniqueness of their details, show how these ones represent the key of their success since years. In the past, these peculiar prints were appositely designed for royal people but even now they preserve the charm of the Made in Italy excellence.

For example, in the last few years Gucci has revalued the iconic “Flora” print born in 1966, when the Monaco’s Princess Grace visited Gucci store in Via Monte Napoleone in Milan with her husband, the Prince Rainier. On that occasion, Rodolfo Gucci wanted to offer her a special gift and asked to the artist Vittorio Accornero to draw a floral motif for an original silk scarf. The result was a wonderful pattern with 43 different kinds of flowers, plants and insects. Then, the brand understood how that print was appreciated by clients, and proposed a whole collection with the same print.

Flora original scarf

Frida Giannini chose it in 2005 for accessories of the spring-summer collection. Some years later, in 2013, Flora motif was proposed again in a different version on natural canvas in a collection of bags, e.g. the New Jackie, the New Bamboo and the Boston bag.

Flora bags Cruise Collection 2013

For the next spring summer 2015, Valentino has chosen historical prints of the brand, such as the “chevron” one, that were preserved in the archive. These prints originally inspired the designer in 1973 for his spring summer collection.

Valentino S/S 2015

United Colors of Benetton has proposed to customers, for this autumn-winter collection, an exclusive “lana vintage” knitwear collection made between the 70’s and the 80’s in its original way in order to be worn with the same elegance and the same spirit typical of that years.

These three examples show how the Made in Italy continues to mark its own way, that it’s constantly an evolution, all over the world in order to emphasize the excellence which characterized it in the past, going on at the present time and ready to overcome the future.

by Floriana Lucchesi