Japery aside, it's not every day you get to play at Gucci designer, but their newly announced DIY service offers the chance to do just that. Beginning with selected bags before rolling out to Ace sneakers, Princetown shoes, men's and women's ready to wear and men's made to order, the service allows the creative customer to customise colour, fabric and lining, whilst adding trims, hardware, embroideries and monogrammed initials. Explain Gucci, "The initiative was inspired by Creative Director Alessandro Michele's philosophy that the way you dress is how you feel and that men and women should feel authentic and free in the expression of themselves."
Jazz up this season's Dionysus bag sale with embroidery options drawing from Michele's ��Gucci Garden'; plump for butterflies, lizards, dragonflies, snakes, roses or peonies - or yes, a bloody massive bee. Trims can be crocodile, python or suede, and monogrammed initials may be added in Swarovski crystals. Plain models, meanwhile, may be refigured in either crocodile, python, ostrich or ��moon' leather in a wide range of colours. Hardware finishes, shoulder straps and embossing can be tweaked to even the pickiest customer's satisfaction.
It's a universally relatable scenario: you're in the Gucci store, credit card primed and ready, the new season's bag crooning a siren call to your unburdened shoulder. But something stops you. You struggle to put your finger on it. It dances around the periphery of your brain, until - yes! It hits you! The only thing this bag is missing is a bloody massive embroidered bee!
Gucci comment, "The combinations of materials, detailing and decoration on offer ensure that the end result will always evoke the spirit of Alessandro Michele's vision. In this way, the process of customisation is both a personal statement and a way in which a customer can become a co-designer with Gucci's Creative Director." Get ye to your nearest Gucci boutique, shoppers. Your creative muscles are overdue a flexing.