Gucci Ancora De Sarno's debut, certainly doesn't leave anyone indifferent

Even before it was unveiled to the world, there was a lot of talk about Sabato De Sarno's debut collection for Gucci, almost too much.

Amid speculations, associations (and especially disassociations) with the brand's past, the risk of breaking the spell was high.

But with 55 looks emerging from the red lights of the Gucci Hub in Milan this afternoon, set to the music of Mark Ronson, the collection from the new creative director of the Florentine brand managed to take a first step toward the goal: to make people fall in love again and again.

If the danger of becoming boring or, worse, being ordinary, was so high, it is solely due to the cultural impact of former designer Alessandro Michele, who, with his deconstruction followed by reconstruction, gave Gucci a record of earnings and overseas fame perhaps comparable only to the Tom Ford era, despite the two aesthetics couldn't be more different.

With sweetness and humility, from 2015 until his departure, Michele created art as well as fashion. He celebrated Gucci's 100th anniversary, directed films and advertising campaigns that touched on different eras and styles to achieve universal acclaim, at least initially.

Among him, Ford, Giannini, and other icons who shaped Gucci into what it is today, the expectations for anyone taking over the next chapter of the brand were extremely high.

Perhaps in search of the definitive confirmation that fashion is truly in its most sober phase after almost a decade of logo mania, sneakers, sportswear, and decidedly campy looks, we believed that only Gucci could provide a definitive answer.

As promised, Sabato De Sarno, a Neapolitan born in 1983, opened with a coat that already clearly says yes: quiet luxury, minimalism, and above all, Italianess.

In gray wool, simple and clean like many, but "my coat", he had said in an exclusive interview with Vogue Italia at the dawn of his debut.

It's a symbolic choice that represents the entire collection: classic pieces for a timeless wardrobe. It's giving Miuccia Prada, but also the Italian dolce vita, the golden period of 90s fashion, and the nostalgia for something that recalls everything and nothing.

This is where the criticism lingers: where is the substance? Where is the dream that we hope to see on the runway, the promise of feeling invincible, clothing for an enhanced, even ethereal, and perhaps beautifully ridiculous version of ourselves?

It bored some, and for others, it reminded them too much of Miuccia Prada or Pierpaolo Piccioli. For the harshest critics, Gucci Ancora was a mix of anonymity and, alas, even the dreaded banality.

Deprived of provocation, concept, and narrative, Gucci Ancora was instead a breath of fresh air for those who no longer saw themselves in the baroque and hype-focused fashion of recent years.

Sobriety may not be a condemnation, after all. Especially for Kering, to which De Sarno aligns without ifs or buts, giving a reassuring wink after the decline of recent years. Now he's taking care of it, telling Pinault, who was present in the front row.