The Gucci Savoy luggage collection, available at the just-unveiled Gucci Valigeria store on the ground floor of the luxurious London landmark hotel, both honours a beautiful backstory and inspires travel in golden-age style
03 November, 2022
In partnership withGucci
Big news in the world of luxury luggage. Huge. Gucci Valigeria has landed, with Ryan Gosling, shot by photographer Glen Luchford, fronting an evocative ad campaign featuring a dizzying array of GG monogrammed suitcases and carry-on bags from the Italian fashion house's Gucci Savoy collection. You might have seen the billboards? (You might have one as a screensaver on your phone?)
You might, too, be familiar with the titular London landmark where the collection is available to buy in the newly unveiled Gucci Valigeria store. Housing 267 luxurious bedrooms, the finest of fine dining and fabled drinking dens the American Bar and the dramatic jet-black-and-gold Beautort Bar, The Savoy makes a natural London home-from-home for the brand. The property hasn't just been a bastion of luxury and magnet for the jet set since its opening in 1889 (when it was the first hotel in the world to have lifts and electric lighting throughout, the power for which was steam-generated using water from the hotel's own artesian wells), but it plays a pivotal role in the Gucci backstory.
Gucci Savoy has landed (left). Find your travel companion at The Savoy's new Gucci Valigeria store.
It was at The Savoy that a young Guccio Gucci was employed as a porter, and where he came into contact with the timeless allure of travel, at a period in history when it was synonymous with exploration, study and providing a bridge between diverse cultures. Having observed countless glamorous guests and been inspired by the high-end items that accompanied them, the young man returned to Florence, where, in 1921, he founded his own artisanal luggage atelier. Gucci had arrived.
Following hot on the heels of the label's centenary celebrations last year, the Gucci Valigeria space on The Savoy's ground floor is the latest in a dazzling creative collaboration that has also involved various special events and seen Gucci transform the hotel's fifth-floor Royal Suite into a sumptuous reflection of the Gucci world. Exuberant yet refined, the ephemeral store invites visitors to breathe in the transportive fragrance of top-quality leather while perusing covetable trunks, trolleys, duffle bags, suitcases, garment bags and other smaller items, ranging from travel sets and stationery to pet accessories.
Speaking to a vision that spotlights the perennial desire to explore and discover, Gucci's creative director Alessandro Michele has said: "Travel for Gucci was never purely physical. Gucci is the brand that accompanies the artists, writers, actors and directors of Hollywood on their journeys…"
All hail the new golden age of travel. (And all hail Gucci's decision to invite Ryan Gosling along for the ride.)
