Olympics, Gucci-Style

Italian house creates limited-edition collection for Beijing summer games
Wednesday, January 02, 2008

(NEW YORK) Gucci may not be the official sponsor of this year's Summer Olympics in China, but the Italian fashion house is nevertheless using the opportunity to contribute to the momentous occasion--and at the same time further increase its brand awareness in label-conscious Asia.

Creative director Frida Giannini has designed a special, one-off collection called 8-8-2008 Limited Edition that features eight accessories, each cast in bold red and bearing its own exclusive athletic twist. Eight is considered the luckiest number in Chinese culture, thus Giannini felt it was the perfect time to roll out the products given the August 8 start date of the Olympics.

"Not only does red evoke happiness and celebration, two emotions that couldn't be more appropriate to describe the excitement brought by the international sport games, but it also happens to be a very fashionable color for 2008," Giannini said.

For tech fiends, the most anticipated item will likely be the new $1,415 I-Gucci watch, the company's first digital timepiece--and the only item that will debut worldwide. Fashioned on a steel frame, the piece boasts a smooth black face and is also available in a clock hand version. The special Gucci Olympic collection logo, with interlocking G motif in place of the zeros in 2-0-0-8, is etched on the back.

All other Gucci Limited Edition items will be exclusive to Gucci boutiques in China, Hong Kong, and Macau starting this month. They include a $3,420 bicycle with bold red double GG leather details; a $3,150 Mahjong set covered in red La Pelle Guccissima leather, and, to pay homage to China, the country's iconic panda animal offered as a soft leather teddy bear for $1,050.

Rounding out the collection are a pair of $660 men's and women's sports shoes featuring a patchwork of suede, patent leather, and gold trim, a $445 sterling silver and enamel necklace inspired by military tags, and two pieces of luggage in La Pelle Guccissima--a sturdy leather duffle for $2,795 and a $995 soft leather messenger bag with Gucci's iconic green-and-red web on the shoulder strap.

Complementing the products is an ad campaign shot by Chinese photographer Feng Hai featuring actor Huang Xiao Ming. The portrait-style images were taken in a studio in Hong Kong and will break in February issues of select magazines encompassing the same markets as the 8-8-2008 Limited Edition collection.