Gucci Year of the Tiger Collection: Thoughts from a Big Fan of the Fashion House

Words by Bibs Malone, Writer. Images courtesy of Gucci.

Each year, Gucci launches a collection to celebrate the Chinese New Year. As one of my favourite collections from the fashion house, I am eagerly awaiting its arrival. I am even blessed to own a couple of products from the previous collections and they are, and will continue to be, my absolute favourite pieces in my collection. However, this year I did not get the same excitement as I usually do after seeing the products.

The collection branches out into two sub-collections featuring vastly different styles. Gucci describes the first one as follows:

“Depicted against a backdrop of colourful greenery and flowers, a reimagination of an archival design by Vittorio Accornero, the creator of the Flora motif, the feline pays homage to the brand’s heritage.”

This branch of the collection includes everything one could imagine: bags, shoes, clothes, and watches. Each item strives to achieve the goal of presenting ‘new’ Gucci whilst honing in on the classical style.  My favourite product from this section was definitely the Horsebit 1995 wallet. The tiger illustrated in its natural habitat is beautifully displayed alongside an excellent range of soft colouring. This design is also featured on a mini bag which is equally well done.

The second part of the collection is described as:

“A contemporary version of the tiger mixes with the collection’s logo print, forming a connection between the House’s past and present.”

I found the second, contemporary style, to be lacklustre, especially compared to the first selection of products. The contemporary styles are simply not as good as the classic styles. It is important to note that I typically prefer the modern-looking products that brands produce yet in this collection I enjoyed the classic style more.  One noticeable example is the hooded cotton sweatshirt. This product colour scheme comes across as disorganized while the tiger stripes placed alongside the giant logo just look tacky. Compared alongside the classic, beautifully printed classic designs, the contemporary additions are underwhelming.

Nonetheless, I admire the company's mindset of offering two very different aesthetics for this launch. The first collection captures the classy, sophisticated Gucci look that everyone knows and loves whilst the second section hopes to draw in different buyers with a modern approach. It is an interesting attempt to make a singular collection appealing to multiple people with diverse fashion tastes.

 What makes the overall launch additionally disappointing is the change in overall theme from the previous Chinese New Year collections. For the past few years, the Gucci New Year collection has always been a collaboration with Disney, featuring a different character that fits the animal the year represents. In 2019, it was the year that Pig and Gucci launched their collection with Disney’s 3 Little Pigs as the focal point.

They continued this theme again in 2020 when Mickey Mouse was featured for the Year of the Rat. In 2021, they ventured away from Disney and used the cute and famous Japanese Character Doraemon for the Year of the Ox.

These collections were amazing and brought new and original ideas of bringing loveable cartoon characters to the world of luxury fashion. These collections proved that brands could have a fun, innovative idea that still looks sophisticated and trendy to wear. In addition, Doraemon brought inclusivity to other cultures and educated the Western World on what's beloved in other cultures. Obviously, there could be licensing reasons for not continuing this theme in 2022, however, after two iconic and consistent launches, the Year of the Tiger doesn’t seem consistent. Continuing with the theme of Disney or other cartoon characters for the annual New Year collection was something Gucci should have done.

 Overall, there are definitely hits in the Year of the Tiger collection. The products inspired by Vittorio Accornero are beautiful and elegant. They encapsulate the Gucci most people love while honouring 2022 with the gorgeously designed tiger. Yet, this is the only true positive that can be said for this collection. The contemporary designs fall short and appear to be a weak attempt at creating a new image for the brand. The new image Gucci should have stuck with was the cartoons. After three years of a groundbreaking theme for the launches, this one just isn’t as good. On the bright side, Gucci has launched Cartoon collections separate from the Chinese New Year collection, such as one inspired by Donald Duck. The Gucci x North Face collaboration also continues to be promising in creating new images for the brand-TikTok star Francis Bourgeois is the face of the campaign. The Gucci, Year of the Tiger collection has its strengths but is a weak follow-up to the fresh and original ideas of the brand.