The sparkling silver Gucci gown Jessica Chastain wore when she presented at last month’s Oscars has a new home: Gucci Salon on Melrose Place.
The luxury house has just opened the new destination on the covetable corner that was long home to Marc Jacobs in the luxe shopping district where fellow brands Chloe, Bottega Veneta, The Row, Marni, Balmain, A.P.C., Isabel Marant, Oscar de la Renta and others are within a stone’s throw.
But Gucci Salon is not like all the rest. Described as an “ultimate luxury destination devised as a transformative, creative space with a tailored atmosphere,” it is not open to the public and will only be available to high-end clients by appointment only. And true to its salon name, the space is designed to be a home to “creative conversation, for exploration and amusement.” Gucci has reserved space for private clients in other locations, including the area above Gucci’s Beverly Hills boutique, known as Gucci Galleria, as well as a spread on the fourth floor of Gucci’s former Fifth Avenue boutique in New York City.
While the Melrose Place location marks the official debut of a Gucci Salon address, additional spaces will be rolled out in 2023 in destinations like New York, Paris, London, Milan, Dubai, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Taipei and Tokyo. Each Gucci Salon will present curated edits and exclusive Gucci items across many categories, from clothing and accessories to shoes and high jewelry, home decor and much more. Gucci Salons will also house selections of items specially devised for each location, presented to clients through special events, with limited availability and one-on-one service.
Posting up in the entertainment capital of the world for its first Gucci Salon address makes sense, considering the brand revealed that it was designed as a kind of homage to Hollywood with “theatrical flourishes” that are said to reference multiple eras and incarnations of Hollywood. Those features include crystal chandeliers, mirrored columns and window niches, draped curtains, and jewel-colored detailing in fabrics and lacquer. Like a “private home fused with the splendor of a movie set,” per Gucci.
To accomplish the vision, Gucci teamed with set designer and frequent collaborator Gideon Ponte, who has worked with Lady Gaga and has credits on such films as Nacho Libre, The Notorious Bette Page, The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys, Hamlet, American Psycho and Buffalo ’66.
“We were inspired by film design, Los Angeles as an oil town, Hollywood, the Golden Age, the New Hollywood era [of the 1970s], the Italian designer Carlo Molino, Mann’s Chinese Theatre. I love how Hollywood still has traces of its past,” Ponte tells The Hollywood Reporter. “For me, growing up in England, I remember watching the Oscars in the ’70s, everyone was so stylish back then. You had Fred Astaire and Jack Nicholson, parties in the hills, just so much more. I wanted to try and bring those feelings back to life. I thought through how filmmakers, particularly the art department, also shaped the aesthetics of Los Angeles.”
See inside Gucci Salon below.
“In the initial phase of the project, my team and I thought through how our vendors and crew and craftspeople from film could add their special touch to the project,” Ponte explains. “These details are seen in the scenic work, upholstery, custom furniture and general approach to creating an interesting space.”
Courtesy of Pablo Enriquez for Gucci
Another look inside Gucci Salon.
Courtesy of Pablo Enriquez for Gucci
Another view inside Gucci Salon.
Courtesy of Pablo Enriquez for Gucci
The silver Gucci gown worn by Jessica Chastain at last month’s Oscars is seen at the forefront opposite the feathery creation worn by Jodie Turner-Smith during the Cannes Film Festival in 2021.
Courtesy of Pablo Enriquez for Gucci
