Dreamlike, fanciful and absurd, the imaginative flair Alessandro Michele brought to Gucci during his stint there as creative director, from 2015 to 2022, produced a renaissance for the Italian house. His vision for the brand, marrying surrealism with commercially viable products, sent shockwaves through the fashion industry — and resulted in Gucci’s revenue more than doubling over the course of his tenure. Even something as demure as an evening bag became an opportunity for maximum impact under Michele, as witness this dazzling heart-shaped Gucci clutch.
A crystal-studded, anatomically correct model of the human heart might seem outlandish, but it was right at home in Michele’s Gucci universe, where the wedding of the beautiful with the bizarre spawned many adventurous designs that became viral sensations. This is the designer who cast a runway show entirely with pairs of identical twins, Gucci-fied masterpieces by Bosch and Millais for a 2018 ad campaign and accessorized models with shockingly lifelike re-creations of their own heads, an event later reproduced for Jared Leto at the 2019 Met Gala as a brilliant exemplar of its theme, “Camp: Notes on Fashion.”
When Gucci celebrated its centennial with the blockbuster “Hacker Project” collection for Spring 2021, created in collaboration with Balenciaga, this clutch was shown as a unisex runway piece, adding a compact but high-wattage dose of humor to the already maximalist ensembles. “It embodies Michele’s signature blend of whimsy and sophistication,” says Kalina Koleva, of Runway Catalog, who is offering the piece on 1stDibs. “The unique shape, sparkling embellishments and chain strap, which features the interlocking GG motif, make this a standout collectible.”
It’s also one of the final eccentricities of a bygone era. Michele left Gucci the following year and recently presented his first collections as the new creative director at Valentino, where he is already crafting looks that exude a similar edge and decadence.
Several milestones stand out in the history of the evening bag. In 1933, Van Cleef & Arpels created the minaudière, a small structured case often adorned with enamel, metal inlay or gemstones. The 1960s saw the rise of Judith Leiber, whose kitschy animal and food-centric designs became covetable sensations. Chanel entered the field in the early 2000s with novelty mini bags in the form of perfume bottles, toy robots, ski gondolas and more, cementing its place in the niche market of handheld collectibles and priming it for Michele’s playful entrance.
As the countdown to holiday gifting nears its conclusion, here is a unique option at the intersection of the strange and the sublime that begs to be unwrapped. Once the paper is peeled away and the glittering clutch catches the light, it’s certain to make its recipient’s heart skip a beat.
