The new collection, La Famiglia, by Demna Gvasalia is in the Gucci’s MBS flagship for a limited period. We went to meet the family

The main tableau featuring the very silent Gucci La Famiglia

Did it live up to the hype? We were interested to know. We are no VICs, so we could only view the collection after the scores of La VIPs have paid their respect last Thursday. To us, it was not so much about being there when the new era of Gucci began; it was the kaypoh in us that needed to put out a burning curiousity. And since there was no livestreamed runway to enjoy Demna Gvasalia’s Gucci debut and we were not terribly impressed with The Tiger, the film that became the substitute, we thought we’d give it a proper audit. What’s momentous fashion without its close-up?

The only Gucci store where La Familia stayed was at MBS. They occupied the central portion of the boutique on level B1 of the mall that is level one of the duplex. Apart from Singapore, the other cities where La Famiglia is concurrently sojourning is Beijing, Shanghai, Seoul, and Tokyo. In all, La Famiglia made ten cities worldwide their home. When we arrived just before noon, the store was surprisingly not packed, still it was comfortably busy. Just a week earlier, this was a ghost store. Staffers were gathered at the entrance to chat audibly about something seen on the screens of one of their smartphones. Behind them, an unsettling quiet.

The totally-encrusted gold drees that Barbara Gucci wore in the film to go quite mad

The pink dress that, in the look book, La Principessa (the princess) wears

At the entrance, inconvenienced by stanchion and rope, a suited staffer asked if we had an appointment. Do we need one? “We can serve you better if you have,” he replied. You don’t have to serve us better then, we grumbled in our heads. And with telepathic quickness, he said, “okay, you can go in”. We spotted a cameraman; we avoided him, and soon heard him behind us, asking visitors: “Would you like your photo taken?” Our eyes immediately caught the tableau to our left, the costumes of The Tiger, freshly exhumed. So this is what fully submerged in glamour looks like. We were immediately drawn to the one unmistakable gold dress, hermetically sealed in sparkle. In the film, Barbara Gucci, played by Demi Moore, wore the number as she succumbed to hysteria/madness, aggressively bedazzled.

Everything else was surprisingly less blinged-out, but that didn’t mean they shunned ostentation like a nun. There was a fecundity of feathers and fur (presumably faux). We spotted the pink, marabou-cuffed dress that Monica Gucci (played by Keke Palmer) wore to sit down to sup with the rest of La Famiglia. It was more diaphanous than it appeared in the film. Another staffer suddenly hove into view and offered to help us pick what might have enticed us. “We have sizes,” he pitched helpfully. ”If we don’t, you can pre-order”. Every piece we paused to appreciate, he immediately correlated to its corresponding character in the digital lookbook he held, mentally ticking off roles like a casting agent. Our socks, however, remained firmly on. Eventually, he got the distinct impression that our enthusiasm was nominal. As a final nudge, he added, “This is until October 12.”What happens to the unsold stocks after that? “We’ll send them back to Milan”.

There was the complete men’s collection too

The store was by now busier. A family of four, all togged in Gucci, had arrived and a staffer rushed to them with the unbridled enthusiasm of a head steward receiving an imperial noble consort. Something else caught our eye: the target of “too much beige” in the film. And we second that emotion. It was a reminder of an earlier age we did not care much about. We had hoped to see the coat of tiger fur that the La Bomba (the Bomb[shell?]) wore, but it had apparently gone MIA. The shoppers seemed more interested in the jewellery (signet rings, especially) and bags (the little ones, especially) than the clothes. This was shaping up to be the usual retail grind.

The chap who had been following us remained chatty. We asked if La Famiglia has been well accepted. And he said the response was overwhelming. How so, we wondered. There was no queue when we arrived. Were there more tourists than local shoppers, considering MBS’s popularity among the former? “Actually, we have our supporters”, he did not want us to be mistaken or have doubts. “Our customers, many tourists, many from Thailand, but there are more locals.” What did they buy? “A lot,” he said. It was hard to induce specifics from him. When we expressed surprise that the reception had been as good as he made them out to be, he said, with palpable satisfaction and pride in his voice: “We did 4 million in sales in just one day.”

Photos: Chin Boh Kay