Gucci Digs Into the Archives (Once Again)

Sabato De Sarno, Gucci’s creative director, frequently references the past: “I love the past,” De Sarno said recently to the Cut’s Cathy Horyn in his studio in Milan. So it made sense that when he debuted a new bag today, the Blondie, it pays homage to the Gucci of the ’70s. “Gucci is a big company but full of history; when I go to the archives in Florence, honestly, it’s one of my best days in the creative process.”

In the early 1970s, to pay tribute to Guccio Gucci, the house’s founder, the brand produced a new iteration of its logo: two G’s side by side, inverted, overlapping to create a circle. This is what was called the Gucci Blondie. But it wasn’t until the fall 2023 collection that the Gucci Blondie was turned into an official handbag collection.

Today, it’s back and the campaign, We Will Always Have London, is almost as good as the bag. Shot by documentary-style photographer Nan Goldin and starring Debbie Harry and Kelsey Lu (as well as Alaato Jazyper, who was the face of the brand’s fall 2024 campaign, and Yanan Wan, who opened the cruise 2025 show), the campaign is set in the streets of London. The campaign presents the Blondie bag alongside the cruise 2025 collection, which also debuted in London. So, why London? It was this city where Guccio Gucci had first encountered the “international elite” working as a lift boy in the Savoy Hotel over a century ago. This experience inspired him to start a leather-goods company, and we know how the rest goes.

The Gucci Blondie bag has been redesigned in Tuscan leather or enamel but was originally created in suede. This leather is known for its minimal use of chemicals, exposing a natural finish that will wear over time to create a unique color, which apparently only gets better with age, a fine wine! As an alternative option, the brand has also offered this design in the signature pattern, the GG monogram, on canvas fabric, along with soft suede options that are available in both small and medium sizes. The bag comes in a range of colors as well. Certo.

But perhaps the most exciting part was that we got to see the bag on Debbie Harry and Kelsey Lu in Gucci’s signature Rosso Ancora shade and on others including Solange Knowles, Hannah Dodd, Kirsty Hume, and Nara Smith. See for yourself.

The Gucci Blondie bag is now available at gucci.com.