Gucci Celebrates The Year Of The Mouse With A Dedicated Collection

For the upcoming Lunar New Year, beginning 25th January 2020, Gucci’s creative Director Alessandro Michele will celebrate the Year of the Mouse with a dedicated collection of special items that feature Walt Disney’s True Original, Mickey Mouse.

Mickey, the most iconic of Disney’s characters, has been playfully incorporated into a full range of items, from shoes and bags to small leather goods, scarves and clothing. Many new designs appear among an array of classic Gucci pieces. The collection has a humorous, vintage spirit, where Disney’s timeless star seems to have hijacked many of the House motifs.

While Mickey is clearly the hero of the Lunar New Year special collection, he is also present in Gucci’s autumn/winter collections for men and women, where he features on a number of items, from T-shirts and sweatshirts, to dresses, tops and trousers, and on a bomber jacket and windbreaker. He also makes a guest appearance on some Gucci prints. However, for the Lunar New Year, Alessandro Michele has developed a whole collection around Disney’s True Original, in honour of the Year of the Mouse.

Key to the collection is a new material: the Mini GG Supreme canvas with Mickey Mouse print, a beige and ebony fabric that features a vintage Mini GG print with Mickey Mouse playfully applied to it in varying scale. This print has been introduced in reference to a House fabric from the ‘80s, and the original pattern, colour and look of this has been reproduced through the use of high-definition digital printing. A protective coating and embossing give the appearance and texture of linen. These items often include inside a brown leather tag that identifies this as an official collaboration with Disney.

For handbags there is a small shoulder bag in Mini GG Supreme with Disney’s icon small, in a repeat pattern. However, a small bucket bag in the same fabric has Mickey Mouse large, standing on the front panel. There is a version of this in plain beige leather too, also with a large Mickey in the same position. All the handbags have ochre leather trim, as do the small leather goods, which also come in the new Mini GG Supreme fabric featuring Mickey Mouse as a repeat pattern. For women there are continental and zip-around wallets, two card cases, a mini bag, a mini backpack and a passport case. For men, there are classic wallets and a pouch. Matching iPhone covers come in different sizes for different models of phone.

For luggage, the cartoon character is rendered as a small repeat pattern on the Mini GG background. Here we have two sizes of backpack, a double shoulder tote, a top handle tote, a round shoulder bag and a belt bag. All are in the Mini GG Supreme Mickey fabric, with ochre leather trim, and all have a beige cotton internal lining. There are also soft and rigid luggage sets in the same fabric, also with ochre leather trim, including trolley cases, as well as a small and large hat case and even a hard guitar case. 

In women’s shoes there is a new Gucci Tennis 1977 sneaker, a slip-on sneaker, a rubber-soled slide and the Princetown slipper with lambswool lining, all in Mini GG Supreme fabric with Disney’s Mickey Mouse multiplied in miniature all over. In addition, the Ace sneaker is presented in the same material with a larger single Mickey. For men the styles offered are the same with the addition of a high-top sneaker. For both men’s and women’s shoes a single, large, lying down Mickey Mouse appears on an ivory leather base in both the Ace and Rhyton trainer styles.

For women’s ready-to-wear, the Disney theme has been developed for numerous pieces, from tops, T-shirts, sweatshirts and dresses, to trousers, denim and jersey items, and knitwear. Colourful prints on different materials from silk twill to cotton drill, elegant jacquard motifs on a silk-wool base, knit intarsias, and decorative embellishments, such as a hand-made crochet appliqué, give these clothes a powerful, distinctive character. Meanwhile, for menswear there are colourful prints, embroidered patches, and jacquard motifs, while Mickey Mouse features throughout and has been combined with House designs like the vintage Mini GG print, the stars pattern and the Interlocking G jacquard stripe in order to give these pieces a thoroughly idiosyncratic look. Every women’s and men’s ready-to-wear item in the Lunar New Year collection will be sold with a special green label and swing ticket featuring Mickey Mouse and “Disney x Gucci” text.

By combining Gucci’s archival patterns with the contrasting Disney True Original, the House creates a selection of silk accessories for women that are genuinely striking. Gucci’s famous Flora pattern gets the Disney treatment for a silk carré, as do two new prints – one, an ochre-toned pattern that features an autumnal setting of mushrooms, and another that has a more summery theme, in blue hues, with hares, wild birds and flowers. These last two come adorned with Mickey as silk carrés and ribbons. Another new pattern features a toile de Jouy motif with different scenes Mickey and Minnie, displayed within a yellow frame. This is available as a 70 x 70 cm bandana. For men, the Mini GG Supreme Mickey pattern is used for a baseball cap with black mesh and leather strap, as well as a fedora hat. Both feature an oval leather Interlocking G tag. There is also a cotton carré, and a modal-silk shawl that combine Mickey Mouse with an all-over beige/ebony Mini GG base. A new knitted wool jacquard pattern mixes the GG motif, stars and Mickey Mouse in two different colour variations, blue and orange, and is used for knitted hats and scarves.

The distinctive Gucci Grip watch has either a PVD or steel case featuring the playful Mickey Mouse motif, paired with a canvas strap or steel bracelet, respectively. This Mickey has eyes that are visible in the dark thanks to Super-LumiNova treatment. For jewelry, an enamel Mickey features on sterling silver pieces – two necklaces with dog tags, and a Gucci boule chain bracelet, which is inspired by an iconic Gucci jewelry collection in the archive. 

Finally, there are also special sunglasses for the Lunar New Year that reference the colours used in the rest of the collection with a round, oversized, vintage-style metal frame with black and red glazed enamel stripes, white mother-of-pearl end tips and gradient vintage pink powder-nude lenses. The effect is feminine, 70s and pure Gucci. 

The Lunar New Year collection, has its own dedicated packaging, which comprises red tissue paper, red fabric pouches with drawstring closures and Mickey Mouse emblazoned on them, and green shopping bags and boxes featuring a miniature repeat print of Mickey Mouse. The boxes have a red interior.

From January, the Lunar New Year collection will be promoted across Gucci’s digital channels and in selected Gucci stores worldwide. Store windows will highlight the collection in select cities, and there will also be a number of pop-up stores, also known as Gucci Pins, showcasing these special pieces. Dedicated interactive content will be available on the Gucci App, bringing the Mickey Mouse character to life.