The Tiger Comes To Tea in Gucci's Chinese New Year Campaign

by SHOWstudio on 4 January 2022

Ring in the Chinese New Year with Gucci's latest capsule collection.

According to the Chinese zodiac, this year will bring with it resilience and strength in the face of adversity- fitting for the lockdown world we still find ourselves in. Having previously marked Chinese New Year with a Disneyland capsule and a Japanese manga collaboration, Gucci are celebrating the Year of the Tiger with a collection which reimagines the Italian brand's iconic Flora motif.

Photograph Angelo Pennetta

Lensed by Angelo Pennetta, a frequent Gucci collaborator, a tiger joins a motley crew of Gucci friends for tea in the collection's campaign. Unafraid to reimagine Gucci signatures, as seen in last year's Balenciaga hackathon, this time round creative director Alessandro Michele has coined the phrase 'GUCCI TIGER' in a collegiate typeface covering graphic-t-shirts and coin purses. Pastel coloured illustrations of a tiger are imposed upon the Flora motif, originally designed by Vittorio Accornero in the 1960s, on silk shirts, dresses, knitwear and the lining of a trench coat. Applied as crochet patches, embroidered, and painted by hand, many of the pieces are one-of-a-kind and are combined with the interlocking G motif and equestrian stripe. Green and blue are the colours of good fortune for 2022, seen on a retro anorak in the capsule not dissimilar to the aesthetic of the brand's recent Xbox collaboration.

Photograph Angelo Pennetta

Accessories also include the brand's first fully eco-friendly watches, with the strap made from animal-free, sustainable and bio-based raw fabric. Since February 2020, Gucci have supported The Lion's Share Fund which protects endangered species, and shared with press a disclaimer that the animal welfare organisation American Humane monitored the set of the campaign, for which tigers were shot separately.

The collection launches Tuesday 4 January. Shop it here.