Gucci unveils its first Gucci Salon in Los Angeles

By

Chenu Alexis

Published
Apr 11, 2023

Gucci, the Italian luxury brand of the Kering group, has opened its first Gucci Salon in the world. Located at the former Marc Jacobs store at 8400 Melrose avenue, the space is known for it's entirely plant-covered facade. The brand had already launched a pop-up in collaboration with Adidas last June.

“Each global Gucci Salon destination is a true one-off, devised as a transformative, creative space with an atmosphere tailored to each locale” says Gucci. “Disrupting the conventional language and experience of a boutique, each Gucci Salon proposes a personal universe, offering intimacy and discretion, for clientele invited by appointment. It is a space for creative conversation, for exploration and indulgence.”

Inspired by Hollywood heritage and the first Gucci boutique to open in L.A in 1968 on Rodeo Drive, the salon has been designed as an intimate environment with award-winning set and production designer Gideon Ponte, a long-term Gucci collaborator. 

“In this space, first-of-its-kind, the language of a private home is fused with the splendour of a movie set, luxurious fabrics and luminous finishes in refined ivory tones proposing a backdrop for offerings of Gucci’s most exceptional pieces from Valigeria, precious leathers, high jewelry and watchmaking, accessories, high-end custom collections - including eveningwear, tailoring, gowns embroidered and embellished in the finest fabrics - and décor,” adds Gucci's press release.

Alongside, theatrical flourishes underscore the unique history of this location, referencing multiple eras and incarnations of Hollywood - crystal chandeliers, mirrored columns and window niches, draped curtains like proscenium, and jewel-coloured detailing in fabrics and lacquer finishes echo those precious objects contained within. Each fitting room recalls the scenography of movie sets, and the dressing rooms of iconic stars - private realms. 

“In anticipation of the needs of Gucci’s clientele, the space offers endless opportunities for reinvention,” says the brand. “Dynamic and reactive, no fittings are anchored - free-standing cabinetry and specially-curated furniture permit the space to be redefined, truly tailored to every personality. This is a gateway to the creative exchange at the heart of every Gucci Salon, a place for ideas to be explored, for dreams to become realities.”

In addition to the customization and personalization options offered, the Gucci Salon on Melrose Place will unveil ever-transforming selections of items specially-devised for each locale, presented to clients through special events, with limited availability - one-off, and one-time-only. With that in mind, the client experience will be entirely unique, from the Gucci Salon spaces to the customer's interaction with the Gucci staff tailoring to their bespoke needs. 

Gucci's history in Los Angeles dates back to 1977, when Aldo Gucci, the son of founder Guccio Gucci, opened a space above the Gucci store in Beverly Hills envisioned as "perhaps the most luxurious place to shop in the entire world," according to the Italian brand. Named the 'Gucci Galleria', it was a showcase of unique pieces in environs of unrivalled refinement, matched only by a second area dedicated to this concept opened on the fourth floor of Gucci’s former Fifth Avenue boutique in New York City in 1980. Both were discreetly accessible to a select clientele via a crystal and bronze elevator, opened by a leather-wrapped brass key. In each, intimacy and exceptionality were the focus. 

Specially-designated areas and floors within global Gucci boutiques also known as Gucci Salons will be featured in signature destinations, including New York, Paris, London, Milan, Dubai, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Taipei and Tokyo, throughout 2023. 

The news comes as the brand experienced a decline in sales in 2022, a 14% decline in revenue in the fourth quarter, a period that coincided with the departure of Alessandro Michele, the brand's creative director since 2015, who has since been replaced by Sabato de Sarno.