Meet Gucci's Sylvie 1969, The Must-Have Bag Of The Season
The year was 1969. In a giant leap for mankind, the spacecraft Apollo 11 landed safely on the moon, and Neil Armstrong took his epochal first steps across the lunar surface. Thousands of miles away on earth, Gucci’s Sylvie made its debut, a smaller scale but just as significant milestone in the brand’s illustrious history of craftsmanship. Named for the dual-toned racer stripe that marked its foldover flap (an evolution of the emblematic Web motif), the Sylvie was an instant and lasting success. Fast forward five decades, and the bag remains one of Gucci’s most cherished and coveted creations. Revived as the Sylvie 1969 by current creative director Alessandro Michele, it has gained the stamp of approval from famous fans like Dakota and Elle Fanning, Rita Ora, Katie Holmes, and Deepika Padukone, with two cameos in Crash Landing On You and Hotel del Luna to boot.
Instantly recognisable for its ultra-feminine silhouette and military-inspired hardware, the Sylvie takes on new life this season with a fresh makeover, inspired by the neoclassicist philosophy of renewal held dear by Alessandro Michele. The signature gilded chain and buckle detail is refined and narrowed, while the grosgrain Web stripe is discarded in favour of a sleek and minimalist look that only elevates its sophistication and sensuality. Lustrous patent leather in a bold palette of carmine red, forest green, and burnished black, along with a structured top handle and delicate chain link strap, complete the bag’s metamorphosis into a chic and contemporary yet timelessly classic object of desire.
A touch of the exotic arrives in the form of precious skins, including black, red, or green crocodile, bright orange and green ostrich, python, and cobra-printed snakeskin.
Top-handle iterations aside, Spring/Summer 2020 also sees the introduction of the Sylvie 1969 shoulder bag, a soft and youthful shape with graceful curves and an adjustable snap button strap that allows it to be carried in a variety of ways. The versatile design comes in Azalea Michel printed leather in a wide array of colours, ranging from understated black and brown to vibrant blue, red, green, and butter, as well as lizard and crocodile variations.
The Sylvie 1969 may not evoke the fanciful flamboyance we have come to expect from Gucci under Alessandro Michele, but it is a beautifully crafted piece with superlative style credentials, one which you can treasure for years (and decades) to come.
The Gucci Sylvie 1969 bag is available now online at gucci.com
