When Alessandro Michele left Gucci in 2022, I mourned the loss of his whimsical, maximalist universe – the celestial prints, the vintage-inspired hardware, the joyful chaos that had defined a decade of fashion. When Valentino announced him as creative director in March 2024, I was skeptical. Valentino was the house of Valentino Red, of Pierpaolo…
For years, I watched the Gucci Jackie from a careful distance. I admired its crescent silhouette, its elegant simplicity, the way it seemed to say everything without a single logo. But I never bought one. I told myself it was overpriced. I told myself I had missed the moment. I told myself that luxury bags…
When Sabato De Sarno was announced as Gucci’s new creative director in January 2023, I felt a familiar wave of skepticism. Alessandro Michele‘s maximalist, gender-fluid, Renaissance-fair aesthetic had defined Gucci for nearly a decade. His departure left a void the size of the Florentine Duomo. And now, here was a relatively unknown 39-year-old from Valentino—a…
For years, I knew Santoni only by reputation—a whisper among shoe collectors, a name that appeared in the same breath as Berluti and John Lobb, but one I had never experienced firsthand. I assumed it was yet another Italian luxury brand trading on heritage, beautiful but interchangeable with a dozen others. Then a friend—a man…
For years, I dismissed Ferragamo as the brand of your grandmother’s sensible flats—elegant, yes, but something for another generation. The Vara bow, the Gancini hardware, the polished loafers—all beautiful, but I assumed the brand was more about heritage than relevance. I walked past Ferragamo boutiques without entering, convinced that “quiet luxury” meant something newer, fresher….
For years, I assumed that all luxury leather was created equal—that the $2,000 price tag guaranteed durability, regardless of which Italian house you chose. I bought a Gucci GG Marmont, enchanted by its soft, quilted leather and the satisfying weight of the Double G hardware. I carried it everywhere. Within six months, the corners showed…
For years, I believed that luxury sneakers and executive style were incompatible. The sneakers that were comfortable enough for long days looked like gym shoes. The shoes that looked polished enough for boardrooms felt like instruments of torture by 3 PM. I assumed that every CEO walking through airport terminals in sleek, minimalist sneakers had…
I watched the Ferragamo Hug bag from a distance, curious but unconvinced. Ferragamo, to me, was a heritage shoe brand—the Vara bow, the Gancio loafer, the quiet craftsmanship of a house that had never quite captured the handbag spotlight the way Prada or Gucci had. I assumed the Hug was just another nice bag from…
For years, I dismissed nylon handbags as an oxymoron. Luxury, I believed, meant leather—full-grain, vegetable-tanned, heavy enough to announce its presence. Nylon was for backpacks, for gym bags, for the practical parts of life that had nothing to do with beauty. Then I watched a woman board a flight at Rome’s Fiumicino airport. She was…
I watched the Gucci Jackie from a distance, admiring its crescent silhouette and piston closure, but never quite understanding why it inspired such devotion. It seemed like a simple bag—a half-moon shape, a metal clasp, a strap. What made it iconic? Then I saw one in person at a vintage boutique in Milan. A 1960s…