It’s Saturday night. Grab the prosecco, jump into your coziest outfit, and make yourself comfortable on the sofa – we’ve got some late-night television watch, this time courtesy of Gucci.
Gucci have been kicking off their centennial anniversary in true style, showcasing multiple collections, a collab with Balenciaga, and now their very own talk show for their newest handbag campaign.
The iconic fashion brand launched the Beloved range this week, featuring several bags from the Gucci archives as well as some clever reimaginings. Under the guidance of designer Alessandro Michele, the campaign for the Beloved range sees Gucci’s handbags paired with some of today’s most famous faces in a talk show setting.
‘The Beloved Show’ is hosted by The Late Late Show’s James Corden, and features the likes of Harry Styles, Dakota Johnson, Serena Williams, Diane Keaton, Awkwafina, and Sienna Miller in the hot seat as they proudly showcase their favourite Gucci bags. The two-minute video clips are packed full of old Hollywood aesthetics (courtesy of Harmony Korine), gorgeous clothing, and that awkward humour that characterises the typical American talk show.
What sets ‘The Beloved Show’ apart from the typical talk show, however, is the star. While we may initially gravitate towards the pretty faces of recognisable celebrities, it’s the bags they hold up to the camera that steal the show. The stars, rather than promote their latest single, film, or sporting achievement, are there to discuss their favourite Gucci bag – and maybe have a giggle or two while they’re at it.
Speaking on this aspect of the campaign, Michele commented:
“We decided to show the concept of ‘beloved’ in an ironic way in the campaign, being inspired by the fact that bags are the protagonists in my life and in the lives of many other people… We went back in time to the original TV talk shows, where the protagonist is the bag itself, the big star. Very often these creations are named after influential women who conditioned the habits and customs of many. It’s precisely because they have great personalities that in the industry we gave them these powerful names; and now we have them in a show and twisted with the idea that there were two stars: the bag and the actual talent. A game of cross-references between the two great protagonists.”
Harry Styles’ full campaign video dropped yesterday. The house ambassador for Gucci was styled in maximalist fashion, donning an oversized fur coat, a patterned shirt, and flared jeans from the brand’s SS21 Collection. At his side, Styles wore his favourite Gucci accessory: the Jackie 1961 bag.
First introduced in the 1950s as the Constance, the Jackie bag was renamed a few years later to commemorate the former first lady of the US, Jackie Kennedy Onassis. The Jackie has since become a house signature and was reimagined by Michele for the Gucci AW20 Collection; the iconic half-moon shoulder bag taking on a new pastel colour palette that simultaneously brought in a new age for Gucci while harking back to its retro roots.
Styles is noted to have taken a liking to the Jackie back in February 2020, after being spotted outside BBC Studios in London with one slung over his shoulder – a true spokesman for the man-bag, if we’ve ever seen one.
In the skit, Styles and Corden spend most of the video awkwardly laughing together at the thought of the host revealing the events of the time he found the singer “quite late at night at the back of that diner.” The bright lights and laughter of the talk show are abruptly cut off as the video pans to the duo sat together in the green room, making awkward small talk as Styles waits for his car to pick him up.
Other stars have similarly awkward interactions with Corden. Dakota Johnson, who wears the Dionysus bag, spends her interview talking over Corden in a clumsy exchange of who-gets-to-talk-first; Sienna Miller, also showing off a Jackie 1961 (this time in GG Supreme canvas), arrives to the show late, eventually wandering on to set just as Corden leaves to find her; and Serena Williams, opting for her favourite GG Marmont bag, tells Corden prior to the show that he can “ask [her] anything”, only to spend her entire segment waving to a roaring crowd as she struts across the stage.
‘The Beloved Show’ is definitely one of the more memorable fashion campaigns of the year, bringing together humour, celebrity power, and Gucci’s typical eccentric quirkiness. Gucci is known for never missing a beat when it comes to its exploration of contemporary pop culture, but this time they unite this vision with staples from the brand’s vault to create a whole new visual language.
Beloved is a trend-setting prompt that will no doubt see a growth in the popularity handbags – or in Styles’ case, man-bags – as we head out into the world post-lockdown. In any case, we can only wait excitedly for Gucci to roll out the rest of their campaign clips – stay tuned!
Words By Charlie Colville
