Photography by Jess Ruby James. Dripping with insignia, Alessandro Michele’s take on the iconic Bamboo bag is perhaps the most “Gucci” design ever to emerge from the Florentine fashion house. Called Bamboo 1947, Michele’s collection (which includes a “mini” size, shown here, measuring just 17 by 12 centimetres) takes its name from the year of the original bag’s release, when a shortage of raw materials in postwar Italy prompted the label’s founder, Guccio Gucci, to seek inspiration from the East.
He imported bamboo from Japan and with the assistance of artisans at the house, he found ways to manipulate the material, heating it over a flame until it became pliable and applying layers of lacquer for a high-shine finish — a patented process still used today.
Lightweight and durable, and with a hint of the exotic, Guccio’s hardware found fame in Hollywood and, in turn, bamboo — a material known for its remarkable growth and resilience — became the unlikely emblem of Italian luxury, embraced by stars and royalty, from Ingrid Bergman to Diana, Princess of Wales and, more recently, Beyoncé and Harry Styles.
