Reflections on experimentation, creativity, and self-expression with Gucci

Is Metaverse the future of work?

Brits don't give a damn about the metaverse

I tried a 'metaverse' app at an NFL game. Real life was better.

These were three headlines I took note of just in the past week. So, while “Goblin Mode” may be the Oxford Word of the Year, I think we all know what the runner-up was.

Brands are right to be confused about the metaverse, and what it can mean for how they connect with customers. Just look at the headlines above. That’s why, on the latest episode of #IITMPodcast , I was so excited to get the scoop from…Gucci?

That’s right. Gucci , the 100-year-old fashion house, creator of coveted bags and belts, the outfitter of Harry Styles , Billie Eilish, Ryan Gosling , Miley Cyrus, and most recently Hanni, is a Metaverse pioneer. Their secret? Brand-led experimentation is key. In fact, it’s part of Gucci’s DNA.

Admittedly, I was anxious to interview Robert Triefus, Gucci’s Senior EVP of Corporate and Brand Strategy and the newly appointed CEO of Gucci Vault, an online space and manifestation of the company’s metaverse strategy. I am neither a true fashionista nor a die-hard digital native. But throughout our conversation, I was impressed with Robert’s thoughtful responses, his perspectives on Gucci’s legacy of experimentation, and how they’re bringing that same spirit to new digital frontiers.?

To start, Robert reminded me that while Gucci may be the oldest Italian fashion brand in operation today, innovation has always been at its core. From its early days, Gucci experimented with different textiles, like the infamous leather bags with bamboo handles. It’s been a pioneer of uncommon collaborations, like the first-of-its-kind partnership with automobiles in the 1970s (just google “AMC Hornet?Sportabout”) and, more recently, its wildly successful partnership with The North Face (gorpcore, anyone?). It’s been a provocateur, challenging traditional gendered clothing, like in its recent “all gender” MX collection , which the brand describes as “collections set out to deconstruct preconceived binaries.” And it’s even pushing the bounds of luxury wellness with its latest generation Oura Smart Ring.

While some experiments have been more successful than others, what’s clear from my conversation with Robert is that Gucci’s innovative spirit has carried over to the digital space in a pretty significant way. The brand was one of the first, if not the first, luxury brand to embrace e-commerce, over 20 years ago. It was the first luxury brand to launch an NFT, the first to create its own territory within The Sandbox, a digital real estate platform, and the first to design a persistent experience on Roblox—Gucci Garden —visited by over 20 million users (check out my interview with Christina Wooton to hear more ).?

Now with the Vault, which Robert refers to as Gucci’s “playground,” the brand can lean into evolving technologies, take advantage of new opportunities, and bring novel experiences to its social community of over 100 million followers and 600 million visitors to Gucci.com (think vintage fashion NFTs on virtual shelves, games and beyond). Set up with an agile team dedicated to the exploration of the metaverse, the goal is to create a pipeline of test-and-learn projects that can be scaled, if successful.

“One of the great capacities that Gucci has is to unite and convene people of like minds around ideas, creative ideas, social ideas, and of course technology,” said Robert. “The digital landscape helps us to, in a way, amplify that very, very significantly—if we are smart in looking at how we can use platforms.”

Moving from virtual reality to the runway, we then discussed Gucci’s history-making Twinsburg fashion show in Milan—“a true parallel universe” featuring 68 sets of twins holding hands in a simple gesture of connection and family. According to Gucci’s Instagram teaser campaign, the show represented “an eternal fascination for the double, those things that seem to reflect equal to themselves.” Twinsburg was live-streamed and has since reached around 280 million people.

In reflecting upon this wide-ranging conversation, what’s clear to me is that Gucci has always been about so much more than fashion.?Whether operating in physical, digital, or even metaphysical worlds, the brand has always been guided by a core idea of empowering creative self-expression… the digital landscape is yet another vehicle for them to do so.

According to Robert, “oftentimes individuals may feel more free to express themselves in the digital world than they do in the physical world. So, if Gucci can straddle those two worlds in a very thoughtful way, but also a way in which we can help to empower that self-expression, then we're kind of winning in both those realities.”

For Gucci, experimentation is approached from a lens of brand first, channel second, and I think this is a lesson all brands should follow. With that, check out my full conversation with Robert here .